The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-29
WOODCOCK ABOUT RIPE.
A TOothsOme Bird That May Be Shot
in Indiana After July L.
Chicago Times-Herald.

Chicago I1meS-HeTdIu.
"Ole Mr.. Woodcock, cotton am high;
Ole Mr.. Woodcock-shine i'm in de eye
Ole Mr.. Woodcock, diu you sa-a-ay
Did you sa-a-ay, Good Lord!
That song comes from the low-lying lands
of last FeIiciana Parish, Louisiana. 1t was
made by a negro thing OF snredS and
patches whose name tradition holds not,
and it illustrates the manner IN winch one
of our game birds is butchered by Africans
and 'Cadian French in that part CT the
country. The woOdcock is nlghtfeeder
Being gifted with a bill of enormous length,
he bores into the ground in search OF sue
culent worms that are his diet. lie mas d
round head and large, very bright eye.
After dark he is found in the neldS between
the rows of cotton. The negroes hunt MIN
lust as deer are sometimes nunted-Wlth d
big flaming brazier OF pine KNOTS. 1 Ity
a dozen feet away. He is blinded and his
three inches of bill is in the earth; Thin
do the rest When Mississippi steamers
land at Baton Rouge the French and ne
groes board them wreathed round with
dead Woodcock, which they call becaSse.
The birds are strung through the neck upon
heavy Irvine that has a bagglnS heedIe at
one end of it. The ends are united ana
loop is formed something like lady Boa
1t is picturesque enough but makes
sportsman sick. The birds are SOLD 70 the
stewards of the vessels at cents apiece.
In Chicago they are snapped up at %
The season opens in this State on the 18th
have gone South. They winter in South
america in swarms. Great shooting is had
along the Orinoca. Their favorlte grounds
in Illinois are along the Fox, illinois and
Kankakee rivers. They are found III thick
willows and brushy, SWampy places, where
the walking is hard and the shootlng par
ticularly difficult. Fifteen in a day, legiti-
mately killed, is an excellent bag. They are
hunted sometimes with the cocker spaniel,
but more often with pointer or setter. AS
the cover is so thick that in many Instances
the shooter cannot see his dog, and as, the
dog will not flush il Well trained II is Gus
tom to hang a bell about the anlmals neck.
When the bell stops tinkling the owner
knows that his dog has found game. lie
goes in and kicks the bird out and misses
him Chicago sportsmen tell tales OF in
valuable pointers that they have lost IN this
way The dog came to q stand and was too
found in the thick underground and so
starved miserably to deatn: Chlcago
sportsmen, however, do not differ in kind
from the sportsmen of other cities
The Woodcock is singular in one respect.
The female is much larger than the male.
They breed early in the spring, going as Tar
north as the st. Lawrence. Inc female
lays from four to five eggs and is especially
careful of her young, which are plump,
downy things not unlike Leghorn chickens
just out of the shell. At one time there
was an idea prevalent, not only among
shotgun men, but among naturansts, that
the woodcock crossed the Atlantic to Eng
land and back every year. He is strong
flyer but hardly equal to the trip. l have
never seen any explanation OF how this
BELIEF obtained currency. Ihe plTu mas an
other popularity. His call to his mate is
soft wooing gurgle, but he cannot utter it
while on the ground. He tries it some
times but his bill drops TO the earth and
his tail tits spasmodically UP. The world
would be better II some human singers
were similarly affected. His mild cluck-
cluck when feeding the negro has trans
lated into Good Lord and it is supposed
by him to be supplication to the Deity
for more worms
Taken by and large, as the sailors say,
the woodcock furnishes more difficult shoot
ing than anything that flies over American
soil. This is partly due to his habitat,
which except at night, is confined to thick
woods swamps and canebreaks, and partly
to his flight. which is rapid and spiral. The
bird is easily stopped when conferred, but
the centering process has its drawbacks
OF all guns the sixteen-guage is preferable.
He is killed always at short ranges. and
the lack of weight Of this weapon enables
one TO handle II more quickly. The barrels
should be cylinder bored. In the South the
quarry is found in canebreaks, which grow
to a height of forty feet. The cocker
spaniel is used. This small hunter yelps
continually. His size. or lack of il. enaEiies
him to make his way into and through
places that would battle the ordinary
pointer or setter. The shooter must be
ever on the alert. as the birds are routed
out without warning, in front or him. on
either hand or at his back as chance may
direct. He can hear only the rush OF the
wings and judge from the sound the darec-
ZION In which to ftYFn TIM bird yvnfrz mn