Immediately after sunset the entire male woodcock population leave their secluded haunts, and fly backwards and forwards over the same line of country, uttering a peculiar cry unheard except during the season of nesting. The notes may be termed the song of the males, and are uttered by the birds previous to their departure for their feeding grounds in the evening. The song commences with grunting cries, ending up with a sharp and penetrating note repeated maybe several times in quick succession, pisick, pisick. At times two cock birds during their aerial maneuvers cross one another's path, and then ensues a stern chase over the tree tops, the birds uttering repeatedly their chirping cries. The "roding" of the woodcock never takes place before the sun has set during the earlier part of spring, but at a more advanced period, in May, the birds commence their evening flights rather earlier. The flighting is continued till deep twilight has settled over the glen, but ceases before night. In the morning I, personally, have never heard this "roding," but it is said to be recommenced before daybreak, and to cease previous to full daylight. The woodcock when roding does not fly repeatedly over the same part of the wood; there is an interval between each of its appearances.
It is said to pass over the same country three times in the course of the evening. On the first visit it flies high and usually fast; on the second its progress is lower and more leisurely; while on the third and last the bird moves just above the trees.
Nesting.—In the southern portions of Great Britain the woodcock is a very early breeder, many birds nesting in March and some in February. Late nestings in July indicate the probability that two broods are sometimes raised, though this is unusual among waders. Mr. Gordon (1915) describes the nesting habits as follows:
The nesting ground is usually a wood, deciduous trees, being, I think preferred, owing to the soft layer of fallen leaves covering the ground. Close-grown plantations are rarely chosen as nesting sites, and small belts of birch and oak are favorite nesting grounds, provided that there is plenty of space between the trees. It is my experience that the birds dislike dense cover in which to nest; a few broken-down braken offer a suitable position, or the bird may scrape out a hollow amongst the deep layers of fallen beech and oak leaves which cover the ground beneath these trees. The eggs usually number four, but at times only three are found. Their ground color is normally buff colored, and they are liberally spotted and blotched by dark reddish-brown markings. Nothing more primitive than the nest of the woodcock can be found in the bird world. It is merely a slight hollow scraped in the ground and generally without intentional lining of any kind. The mother woodcock often sits very hard on her eggs, especially if incubation be far advanced, for she relies on the close harmonization of her plumage with her surroundings. Sometimes I have been able to approach to within a few feet of such a bird, and by not the slightest movement did she betray that she was alive. As the result of her early nesting, the woodcock has sometimes to cover her eggs when snow lies around to a considerable depth.
Rev. Henry H. Slater (1898) says that the nest is "often at the foot of a young Scotch fir, or other tree."
Eggs.—The European woodcock usually lays four eggs, but as many as six and even eight have been found in a nest, probably the product of two birds. These are much like large eggs of the American woodcock. They are about ovate in shape and have a slight gloss. The ground colors vary from "deep olive buff" to "cream buff." They are usually sparingly, but sometimes quite heavily, marked with irregular spots and small blotches. The underlying markings, in light shades of drab are numerous and quite conspicuous. Over these are varying amounts of spots and blotches of light browns, ranging in color from "snuff brown" to "clay color." Occasionally there are a few spots or scrawls of "bister" or "clove brown" about the larger end. Herbert Massey (1913) describes the eggs as follows:
The ground color ranges from the palest cream (nearly white) through deeper cream to pale buff, yellow-buff, and the deepest brown buff (many of the eggs of this latter type having a distinct pink tone), speckled and spotted and blotched with yellow-brown, dark brown, and purplish gray. As a rule, the eggs in the same set are fairly uniform in the pattern of the markings, but occasionally you get a set with one egg much more marked than the other three, and in many cases you find two distinct shades of ground color in the same set.
The measurements of 100 eggs, furnished by F. C. R. Jourdain, average 43.8 by 33.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 49 by 34.8, 44.9 by 36.4, 40.2 by 34, and 43.1 by 31.6 millimeters.
Young.—Incubation lasts for 20 or 21 days and is performed by the female only. The young remain in the nest but a short time, where they are brooded by their mother and carefully tended by both parents. Several good observers have seen the mother bird carry her young away between her legs. Dresser (1871) quotes John J. Dalgleish as follows: