Part 104
The woodcock measures fourteen inches in length, and twenty-six in breadth, and generally weighs about twelve ounces. The shape of the head is remarkable, being rather triangular than round, with the eyes placed near the top, and the ears very forward, nearly on a line with the corners of the mouth. The upper mandible, which measures about three inches, is furrowed nearly its whole length, and at the tip it projects beyond, and hangs over the under one, ending in a kind of knob, which, like those of others of the same genus, is susceptible of the finest feeling, and calculated by that means, aided, perhaps by acute smell, to find the small worms in the soft moist grounds from whence it extracts them with its sharp-pointed tongue. With the bill it also turns over and tosses the fallen leaves in search of the insects which shelter underneath. The crown of the head is of an ash colour, the nape and the back part of its neck black, marked with three bars of rusty red: a black line extends from the corners of the mouth to the eyes, the orbits of which are pale buff; the whole under parts are yellowish white, numerously barred with dark waved lines. The tail consists of twelve feathers, which, like the quills, are black, and indented across with reddish spots on the edges; the tip is ash-coloured above, and of a glossy white below. The legs are short, feathered to the knees, and, in some, are of a bluish cast, in others, of a sallow flesh colour. The upper parts of the plumage are so marbled, spotted, barred, streaked and variegated, that to describe them with accuracy would be difficult and tedious. The colours consisting of black, white, grey, ash, red, brown, rufous, and yellow, are so disposed in rows, crossed, and broken at intervals by lines and marks of different shapes, that the whole seems to the eye, at a little distance, blended together and confused, which makes the bird appear exactly like the withered stalks and leaves of ferns, sticks, moss and grasses, which form the back ground of the scenery by which it is sheltered in its moist and solitary retreats. The sportsman only being accustomed to it, is enabled to discover it, and his leading marks are his full dark eye, and glossy silver white-tipped tail. In plumage the female differs very little from the male, and, like most other birds, only by being less brilliant in her colours.
The flesh of the woodcock is held in very high estimation, and hence it is eagerly sought after by the sportsman. It is hardly necessary to notice, that in cooking it, the entrails are not drawn, but roasted within the bird, from whence they drop out with the gravy, upon slices of toasted bread, and are relished as a delicious kind of sauce.
The woodcock is migratory, and in different seasons is said to inhabit every climate: it leaves the countries bordering upon the Baltic, in the autumn and setting in of winter, on its route to this country. They do not come in large flocks, but keep dropping in upon our shores singly, or sometimes in pairs, from the beginning of October till December. They must have the instinctive precaution of landing only in the night, or in dark misty weather, for they are never seen to arrive, but are frequently discovered the next morning in any ditch which affords shelter, and particularly after the extraordinary fatigue occasioned by the adverse gales which they often have to encounter in their aërial voyage. They do not remain on the shores to take their rest longer than a day, but commonly find themselves sufficiently recruited in that time to proceed inland to the very same haunts which they left the preceding season. In temperate weather they retire to the mossy moors and high bleak mountainous parts of the country; but as soon as the frost sets in, and the snow begins to fall, they return to lower and warmer situations, where they meet with boggy grounds and springs, and little oozing mossy rills which are rarely frozen, and seek the shelter of the close bushes of holly, furze, and brakes, in the woody glens, or hollow dells which are covered with underwood: there they remain concealed during the day, and remove to different haunts and feed only in the night. From the beginning of March to the end of that month, or sometimes to the middle of April, they keep drawing towards the coasts, and avail themselves of the first fair wind to return to their native woods: should it happen to continue long to blow adversely, they are thereby detained; and as their numbers increase, they are more easily found and destroyed by the merciless sportsman.
The female makes her nest on the ground, generally at the root or stump of a decayed tree; it is carelessly formed of a few dried fibres and leaves, upon which she lays four or five eggs, larger than those of a pigeon, of a rusty grey colour, blotched and marked with dusky spots. The young leave the nest as soon as they are freed from the shell, but the parent birds continue to attend and assist them until they can provide for themselves. Buffon says they sometimes take a weak one under their throat, and convey it more than a thousand paces.
Latham mentions three varieties of British woodcocks: in the first the head is of a pale red, body white, and the wings brown; the second is of a dun, or rather cream colour; and the third of a pure white. Dr. Heysham, in his catalogue of Cumberland animals, mentions his having met with one, the general colour of which was a fine pale ash, with frequent bars of a very delicate rufous; tail brown, tipped with white; and the bill and legs flesh colour. In addition to these, some other varieties are taken notice of by the late Marmaduke Tunstall, Esq. of Wycliff, in his interleaved books on ornithology.
Latham and Pennant assert that some woodcocks deviate from the course which nature seems to have taught their species, by remaining throughout the year and breeding in this country; and this assertion Mr. Tunstall corroborates by such a number of well authenticated instances, that the fact is unquestionable.
When the woodcock is pursued by the sportsman, its flight is very rapid but short, as it drops behind the first suitable sheltering coppice with great suddenness, and in order to elude discovery runs swiftly off, in quest of some place where it may hide itself in greater security.
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To describe the various methods which are practised by fowlers to catch this bird would be tedious; but it may not be improper to notice those most commonly in use, and against which it does not seem to be equally on its guard as against the gun. It is easily caught in the nets, traps, and springes, which are placed in its accustomed runs or paths, as its suspicions are all lulled into security by the silence of the night; and it will not fly or leap over any obstacles which are placed in its way, while it is in quest of its food; therefore in those places barriers and avenues formed of sticks, stones, &c., are constructed, so as to lure it into the fatal openings where it is entrapped; in like manner, a low fence made of the tops of broom stuck into the ground across the wet furrow of a field, or a runner from a spring which is not frozen, is sufficient to stay its progress, and to make it seek from side to side for an opening through which it may pass, and there it seldom escapes the noose that is set to secure it.
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They leave the north with the first frost, and travel slowly south till they come to their accustomed winter quarters, they do not usually make a quick voyage, but fly from wood to wood, reposing and feeding on their journey, they prefer for their haunts woods near marshes or morasses; they hide themselves under thick bushes in the day, and fly abroad to feed in the dusk of the evening. A laurel or a holly bush is a favourite place for their repose, the thick and varnished leaves of these trees prevent the radiation of heat from the soil, and they are less affected by the refrigerating influence of a clear sky, so that they afford a warm seat for the woodcock. Woodcocks usually begin to fly north on the first approach of spring, and their flights are generally longer and their rests fewer at this season than in autumn. In the autumn they are driven from the north to the south by the want of food, and they stop wherever they can find it. In the spring there is the influence of another powerful instinct added to this, the sexual feeling. They migrate in pairs, and pass as speedily as possible to the place where they are likely to find food, and raise their young, and of which the old birds have already had the experience of former years. Scarcely any woodcocks winter in any part of Germany. In France there are few found, particularly in the southern provinces, and in Normandy and Britany. The woods of England, especially of the west and south, contain always a certain quantity of woodcocks; but there are far more in the moist soil and warmer climate of Ireland, but in the woods of southern Italy and Greece, near marshes, they are far more abundant, and they extend in quantities over the Greek islands, Asia Minor, and northern Africa.
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Woodcocks have been known to settle upon a vessel at sea. Mr. Travers, of Cornwall, records an instance, when at a distance from land unusual for birds to be seen, a bird was discovered hovering over the ship, when first discerned it was high in the air, but gradually descended, and after taking several circuits round, at length alighted on the deck; it was so wearied as to be taken up by the hand. Probably this bird had lost its companions, or, by the force of winds, was driven from the true aërial track. In 1799 a couple of woodcocks, seeking shelter from a gale of wind, alighted upon the Glory man of war, at that time cruising in the Channel.
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In their flight the woodcock, like other birds, is attracted by a glare of light, and many instances have occurred, at the Cromer and Eddystone light-houses, of their falling victims to it; but in 1796, at the light-house upon the Hill of Howth, the man who attends whilst trimming his lamps was surprised by a violent stroke against the windows, which broke a pane of plate-glass cast for the place, more than three-eighths of an inch thick; on examining the balcony that surrounds the light he found a woodcock, which had flown with such violence as to break his bill, head, breast-bone, and both wings. The man had often found birds which had killed themselves by flying against the windows, but never before knew the glass to be injured.
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Upon the Sussex coast woodcocks have been seen at their first dropping, in considerable numbers in the church-yard, and even in the streets of Rye, but during the night, the usual time of their flying, they removed further inland, and dispersed. At their first coming on that coast, they are commonly poor, as if wasted by their long journey; and are sometimes scurfy, though not so much as before their return in the spring; and it is remarkable, that when the woodcock first arrives, the taste of its flesh is quite different from what it is afterwards. It is very white, short, and tender, and seems to have little or no blood in it; but after it has been in this country a considerable time, the flesh becomes more tough, stringy, and fibrous, like that of domestic fowls. If a woodcock is shot just before his departure, it bleeds plentifully, whereas, at the beginning of winter, scarcely any blood flows from the wounds, by this it seems that in those countries, where they have their summer residence, they have a different nourishment to that they here find. Probably the luxuriant and succulent food which they meet with among us, prepares them for breeding in those countries where they retire with the companions of their choice.
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The woodcock feeds indiscriminately upon earth-worms, small beetles, and various kinds of larvæ, and its stomach sometimes contains seeds, which I suspect have been taken up in boring amongst the excrements of cattle; yet the stomach of this bird has something of the gizzard character, though not so much as that of the landrail, which I have found half filled with the seeds of grasses, and even containing corn, mixed with May-bugs, earth-worms, grasshoppers, and caterpillars.
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The time of their appearance and disappearance in Sweden coincides exactly with that of their arrival in, and return from, Great Britain. Their autumnal and vernal appearances on the coast of Suffolk have been accurately noticed, they come over sparingly in the first week in October, the greater numbers not arriving until November and December, and always after sun-set. It is the wind and not the moon, that determines the time of their arrival, and it is probable that this should be the case, as they come hither in quest of food, which fails them in the places they leave; if the wind has favoured their flight, their stay on the coast where they drop is very short, if any, but if they had been forced to struggle with an adverse gale, such as a ship can hardly make any way with, they rest a day or two to recover their fatigue. So greatly has their strength been exhausted, that they have been taken by hand in Southwold streets; they do not come gregariously, but separate and dispersed.
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In the same manner as woodcocks quit us, they retire from France, Germany, and Italy, making the northern and cold situations their universal summer rendezvous. They visit Burgundy the latter end of October, but continue there only four or five weeks; it being a dry country, they are forced away, for want of sustenance, by the first frost. In the winter they are found in vast plenty as far south as Smyrna and Aleppo; during the same season, in Barbary, where the Africans call them the ass of the partridge. It has been asserted that some have appeared as far south as Egypt, which is the remotest migration to which they can be traced on that side the Eastern world; on the other side they are very common in Japan. The woodcocks that resort into the countries of the Levant, probably come from the deserts of Siberia or Tartary, or the old mountains of Armenia.
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In the neighbourhood of Athens, hares and other game are purchased for little more than the value of powder and shot. In winter woodcocks abound, descending, after snow on the mountains, into the plains; and suddenly retiring if the weather continues severe, they enter the gardens of the town in great distress, rather than cross the sea, and are sometimes caught with the hand.
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It has been the belief that the woodcock has two broods in the year, because young ones have been found, just hatched, in the month of August; but I think the cause of the supposition is this,—that as woodcock shooting, at flight time, continues till late in the summer, some of the males may have been shot, and a new pair may have been formed later than usual. If in shooting you meet with a brood of woodcocks, and the young ones cannot fly, the old bird takes the young ones separately between her feet, and flies from the dogs with a moaning cry.
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The woodcock, as it is well known, is a bird of passage. It usually took its departure from Sweden towards the end of October or beginning of November, and did not return until the approach of spring. Mr. Grieff says, he never knew the woodcock to make his appearance in the vicinity of Stockholm until the 6th of April, which about tallies with the time of their leaving our shores.
Woodcocks were exceedingly scarce in the vicinity of Stfirn, which was also the case in all other parts of Scandinavia that I ever visited. This may be supposed when I mention that I never killed more than three in any one day during my stay in the north of Europe. Indeed I never saw more than seven or eight of those birds in the course of a day’s shooting, and very generally not one-fourth part so many. During the woodcock’s periodical migrations, however, for during the winter not one of them remains in Scandinavia, they are occasionally, as it is said, to be met with in considerable numbers on the western coasts of Sweden and Norway.
As it is from the countries of which I am now speaking our covers are supposed to be supplied with woodcocks, it may seem extraordinary that those birds should there be so scarce as I have just described, and so plentiful in places with us. This, however, is easily explained, when we consider, that on their breeding grounds, extending over the whole of the north of Europe, there is probably a thousand times as much wood as in the United Kingdom; and, consequently, when they come to us, and are concentrated, if I may use the term, into our small covers, they naturally make a very great show.
It is generally said that woodcocks are less plentiful in Great Britain than formerly. This I have heard attributed to the Scandinavians eating the eggs of those birds. If, however, persons who entertain this opinion were to see the almost boundless northern forests, they would probably think with me, that if the whole of the scanty population of that part of the world were to go out for the purpose, they would not be able to explore the hundredth part of the woods in the course of a year, and consequently they could not take or destroy any considerable number of eggs.
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In 1796, Mr. Yea, of Swansea, killed one hundred couple of woodcocks in one season. In Ireland, the Earl of Claremont shot half as many in a day, but then it should be premised, that such was the abundance of these birds, as to be sold in some parts (for instance, near Ballyshannon, in the County of Donegal) for one penny each, and the expense of powder and shot.
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In the winter of 1797, the gamekeeper of E. M. Pleydell, Esq., of Whatcomb, Dorsetshire, brought him a woodcock which he had caught in a net set for rabbits, alive and unhurt. Mr. P. scratched the date upon a bit of thin brass, bent it round the woodcock’s leg, and let it fly. In December next year, Mr. Pleydell shot this bird with the brass about its leg, in the very same wood where it had been first caught by the keeper.
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_Comical Direction._—Hawker says in a country where woodcocks are scarce, be sure to put a marker in a tree.
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_Woodcock Fancier._—Mr. Jeremiah Tupman, who died about thirteen years since at Berkeley, caught upon his estate at Lyston, a young male woodcock, which he carefully reared, and having procured a mate for it, they bred in considerable abundance. He was so pleased with his success, that he actually altered his will, which was originally made in favour of a young lady, and left his fortune to the minister at Berkeley, to be principally laid out in the breed of woodcocks, upon the neglect of which the estate was to revert to the family relations; a reversion for which probably the family were not long in expectancy.—_Bewick_—_Davy_—_Grieff_—_Daniel_—_Wild Sports_—_Lloyd, &c._
WOODLAND, _s._ Woods, grounds covered with wood.
WOODLARK, _s._ A melodious sort of wild lark.
WOODMAN, _s._ A sportsman, a hunter.
WOODPECKER, _s._ A bird.
Of these only three or four kinds are found in Great Britain. Their characters are striking, and their manners singular. The bill is large, strong, and fitted for its employment: the end of it is formed like a wedge, with which it pierces the bark of trees, and bores into the wood in which its food is lodged. Its neck is short and thick, and furnished with powerful muscles, which enables it to strike with such force as to be heard at a considerable distance: its tongue is long and taper; at the end of it there is a hard horny substance, which penetrates into the crevices of trees, and extracts the insects and their eggs which are lodged there: the tail consists of ten stiff, sharp-pointed feathers, bent inwards, by which it supports itself on the trunks of trees while in search of food; for this purpose its feet are short and thick, and its toes, which are placed two forward and two backward, are armed with strong hooked claws, by which it clings firmly, and creeps up and down in all directions.—_Bewick._
WOODPIGEON, _s._ A wild pigeon; one that builds in trees.
This species weighs about twenty ounces; length eighteen inches. The bill yellowish; irides light yellow; the head, coverts of the wings, and scapulars are of a deep bluish ash colour; the neck and breast vinaceous, beautifully glossed with green and copper colour, changeable in different lights; on each side the neck is a large patch of glossy white, which almost joins behind; the back and tail ash colour, the latter black at the end; vent and thighs white, tinged with ash colour; the bastard wing almost black, behind which a few of the coverts are white, forming a line down to the greater quills, which are dusky, edged with white; the legs are feathered much below the knee, which, with the feet, are of a purplish red. There is little or no distinction in the plumage of the sexes; but the female is not quite so large.
WOODWARD, _s. obs._ A forester.
A subject who has lived within a forest, according to usage, ought to have a woodward; and if he does not appear at the justice seat, the wood shall be seized into the king’s hands, till he makes fine and replevy it; and if he do not replevy it within a year, it shall remain in the king’s hands for ever.
WOOL, _s._ The fleece of sheep, that which is woven into cloth; any short thick hair.
WOOLLY, _a._ Consisting of wool; clothed with wool; resembling wool.
WORM, _s._ A small harmless serpent that lives in the earth; a poisonous serpent; animal bred in the body; the animal that spins silk; grubs that gnaw wood and furniture; anything vermiculated or turned round; anything spiral; a favourite bait in angling.
When the day is dark or lowering, and a gentle whistling wind plays on the water, or a fine mizzling rain falls without violence; likewise when trout leap out of the water, and pike shoot after other fishes; and also when a sudden shower has mudded and raised the water, if the angler tries on the sides of the stream at the ground, with brandling, gilt tail, or red worm, well scoured, he will have diversion.
_The ash grub or bank-worm_ is plump, milk white, and bent round from head to tail, with a red head, resembling a young humble bee, and is exceedingly tender; it is found under the bark of oak, ash, birch, or alder, especially if they lie a year after they are felled; it is also met with in the body of a rotten alder, when broken in pieces, but care must be observed in breaking the tree, that the worm is not crushed; it is sometimes found under the bark of an old decayed stump of a tree. It is best kept in bran, and will by that means be made tougher; but at the best they are so tender, that great caution must be observed in their use; the hook, which must be armed with a bristle to prevent its slipping down, should be introduced under its head, and guided down the middle of the belly, without suffering it to break the skin in its passage (for if it does, water and milk will issue from the wound, until nothing but the skin remains, when the bent of the hook will appear black through it), until the point of the hook comes so low that the head of the grub may rest on the bristle that projects to hold it; it will be thus defended from slipping off by its own exertions, nor will the force of the stream or quick pulling it out of the water, strip it off.