Mohave County miner., 1890-11-22
ssaslsc : wooDcocK FANNY.
first the sperfiya Fathsr and Then MIRA
sgaaaoook ard the Nttls 0ness

philof and Howard Scayer. young
sons OF Farmer zepas Scarer Of Cooi-
baugh Township. last spring found q
woodcock's nest close TO o swaie IN .
back loi, and on . moonlight even
ing they went orer 10 see II the female
had got young ones yet just before
they had reached the hesting place the
boys saw the male cutting dp qHeer
eapcrs aud making funny noises 10 ths
sir. The birds antics amazed them
so much that they lay low and watched
him. The fact Of the matter was the
woodcock was having a play spell
all alone by himself, while bis wife
was sitting on her eggs in the moon
light. and this IL the way Philor told
about iti
when we first saw the woodcock
he was going straight op, and he was
squalling out Pity, pity. pity, pltyF as
lond as be could yell. When he'd get
up AS high as barn be stopped sing
ing and flew round and round like an
auger. Up be went till we could jest
see him, and then down be come kind
OF slow. All the way down be yelled
Sock, sock, sock. sock. sookP and be
landed la a bare spot where he'd
started frou. Then be cried Beat
lest once, and then he sweiled himself
ali out like gobbler. and ssrutted
around. He few up and did the same
thing twice over, and me n Howard
lay on the ground and he didn't sec
US.
The boys went home without soaring
the female of her nest, but the next
day they found that she bad four
youngsters. When the little wood
cocks were about week old tho boys
made up their miDds 10 snare the IA
ther Of tho family while he was en-
ioylng one of his evening play spells.
The moon was full then, the sky was
clear, aud the youthful sportsmen stole
over 10 the hAInts Of the woodcock and
lay In wait for the male. Their snare
consisted Of hammer handle. fifteen
feet OF fish line. and good-sized bul-
let. One end OF the line was fastened
to the hammer hapdle and on the 9TH
er end OF Il the bullet was tied. Phiior
held the snare.
BY and by the woodcock marched
out from the bushes 10 the same bare
spot and began to arrange his feathers.
Then be sailed upward and sang ''Pityi
pityl pityi' Just as the boys had seen
and heard him do on the first night,
and while he was up Philor crept near
er to the spct, with the snare all
ready. Pretty soon down came the
happy woodcock. and just as he yelled
'.Beatr' Philo let the bullet fy. II
made three or four revolutions around
the woodcock's legs and body. tangling
him all up, and the lads rushed for
ward, caught the woodcock. and nn-
bound the line. They had previously
built q large pen on wet piece OF
ground, where the woodcock could dig
his own worms and they took the bird
homo aud put him into 1t. He thriyed
right along. but now ard then he
moped and mourned for bis family.
Al dusk one night when the young
woodcocks were nearly a month old.
the mother bird coaxed them to q
swaley spot not far from her resting
place, and while they were all feeding
the boys sprung net over them aud
captured the whole lot. putting them
into basket. Before II was dark the
lads turned Mother Woodcock aud her
five little ones Into the male birds
coop. Father Woodcock made great
fuss over bis wife, talking to her and
strutting around her. and she appeared
to be Just as glad 10 see him. For .
day or two the young birds were shy
OF the male. but by the end OF the
week they knew him as well as they
did their mother. and from then until
Farmer Sesver made the boys turn
them loose they were as eontented as
any Of the domestic fowls on the farm.
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