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May 07, 1961 - The Mysterious Woodcock'g a , awt • MiMlI�11 , THE MYSTERIOUS WOODCOCK By Dennis Puleston. Every wildlife species — mam- mal, bird, reptile. even the lowly insect — has its own specialized courtship ritual. Some of these rituals amaze as, others appear quite ludicr- ous, though to the male creature occupied in wooing the female of his choice it is deadly serious, the preliminaries to the powerful mating urge w h i c h instinct orders him to fulfill, so that his own kind can continue. Examples of highly formalized courtship routines with which we are all familiar are the singing of the small frogs known as spring peepers, the piercing, vi- brant calls of the cicadas, the pale, dancing light of the light- ning bugs, and, of course, the great spring chorus of bird songs, some pleasingly melodious, and some, at least to our ears, harsh and unmusical. Yet all t h e s e varied tokens of, the male's desire are delivered ith the greatest fervor, and are accepted, after appropriate coyness; by the chos- en mate. Of all the extraordinary court- ship performances to be wit- nessed in this part of t h e country, none surpasses t h e nuptial flight of the woodcock. To the naturalist, this is the essence of early spring, a phe- nomenon which he can never forget and never cease to enjoy To observe this ritual, o n e must go to a brushy field, close to a patch of swampy woodland. About half an hour after sun- down, just before dusk sets in, a strange call will be heard from the woods. This is the male bird, tuning up for his act. At length he darts out from his cover, to settle in the open field. He then begins to strut like a miniature turkey, with wings drooping and stumpy tail fanned, uttering that same weird, single -noted call. At this juncture, he is apparently so absorbed in his own performance he can be approached q u i t e closely without being distracted. Suddenly he rises from the ground, and climbs almost ver- tically with a vibrant whistling sound. At this stage, he seems more like a cross between a moth and a helicopter than a bird. In several steep spirals, he is now several hundred feet overhead, swaying back and fourth as though on a pendulum. At the apex of his flight he commences his song, a series of bubbling, twittering notes on a descending scale. Twisting h i s body, he then hurtles downwards, as the song grows in intensity. Not until he lands, at about the same spot from which he arose, does the ecstatic song cease.. The act is now repeated, start- ing as before with the rasping cabs and the strutting. On clear, moonlit nights the woodcock is likely to continue his wooing long after nightfall. In the morning, I fie song can be heard from about lalf an hour before dawn until full da.. `ght has arrived. During the day, the b i r d s remain in the wooded swamps, and due to their protective coloration they are rarely seen, except when flushed from un- derfoot. Since their staple food is earthworms, for which they probe with their long, flexible bills, they require soft ground on which to live. Probably due to the fact that they spend so much of their lives boring into the mud, the large, dark eyes are set far back in the head, thus giving them maximum visibility in case of danger. The crude nest is merely a hol- low in the dead leaves, well hid- den in a thicket. The hen sets closely on the eggs, and some- times can even be stroked gently on the back without forsaking her charge. Soon after the downy young are hatched, they are able to follow the mother. who leads them off to the swamps. A few naftift have been so fortunate W ft serve the remarkable habit hen in giving her chicks an lift, as one by one she cortsea them away, clasped betwtm •.per legs. We have much to learn ahow this interesting bird. We know little about its migratory pattast. and some aspects of its cmirtsup are still not fully anderstooi There is a running contiamow between ornithologists as to hour the bird is able to make those peculiar winnowing sounds as it rises on its nocturnal flights. Are these produced vocally, or by the rapidly vibrating flight feathers? Is it only the males that partici- pate in the nuptial dance? On a still spring evening, as we watch and listen to the fas- cinating rites, we are filled with the wonder and complexity of the many natural phenomena around us, which are typified in the age - old, instinctive rapture of t h e mysterious woodcock. FIELD NOTES — Bob Stivers reports an abun- dance of "Viburnum Carlisi" now blooming in the area. The most fragrant of flowering shrubs, they grow in tiny pink clusters at the end of bush twi= <.