INTRODUCTION 
The annual. singing ground counts of the American Woodcock 
(Philohela minor ) play an important part in evaluating the status 
of this game species from year to year. Although certain parts of 
the breeding range are inadequately covered at the present time, the 
information available provides a valuable clue as to the status of 
the woodcock at the beginning of the nesting season. 
Prior to the autumn of 1959, production data were available 
only from very restricted portions of the woodcock's range. And — 
although intensive population studies have been carried out for many 
years in the heart of the wintering range, in central Louisiana, 
practically no information is available on changes in winter abundance 
in other States within the woodcock's wintering range. Even with 
adequate production data and with winter population figures from the 
entire winter range, the singing ground count would continue to be a 
necessity in providing information to fulfill responsibilities of 
the Bureau in managing this species. For example, in March 1960 
an extensive and prolonged period of snow, ice, and hard freezing 
temperatures engulfed all the central and eastern States at a time 
when a great many of the woodecock had departed from their wintering 
grounds; only singing ground counts could reflect any widespread 
effect of such a near-catastrophe. 
1960 COVERAGE 
_ Between March 23 and June 7, 1960, cooperators in 4 eastern 
Provinces of Canada and in 17 eastern and central States made sing- 
ing ground counts on 276 routes. In general, the routes were covered 
on slightly later dates than in 1959, and there were no very early 
reports such as those of February 1959 in the South. 
The present analysis is confined to 206 routes that 
were run in both 1959 and 1960, but Tables 5 and 6 include all 
information from either year. The 206 comparable routes represent 
an increase of 17 over 1958-59. Several States and Provinces had 
much better coverage in 1960 than is apparent from examination of 
Tables 2 and 3. Michigan, for instance, had 22 new routes in 1960, 
Nova Scotia had 10, Ohio had 6, North Carolina had 5, Kentucky had 
4, and Prince Edward Island and Wisconsin had 1 each. If these new 
routes as well as all of the old ones are covered again in 1961, ~ 
next year’s comparison should provide more reliable estimates of 
population trend than are available in 1960; this is especially 
true of States and Provinces west of the Appalachians. 
