The plumage of the Woodcock is remarkable for the harmony of its shades; it is a happy mixture of brown, russet, grey, black, and white. It is not an unusual thing to meet with Woodcocks entirely of the latter; they are the _albinos_ of their kind. Others are arrayed in an Isabelle-coloured plumage (Fig. 130); but white, with grey or brown mottlings, are their principal peculiarities of plumage. The Woodcock is very clean in its habits: nothing prevents it pluming and dressing its feathers twice a day. At morning and evening they can be seen bending their course in rapid flight towards rivulets or springs to bore for insects, quench their thirst, and arrange their toilette. This bird is found in almost all the departments in France, but principally in l'Ain and l'Isère. We need hardly say that they are sought after with an eagerness that no obstacle seems to discourage. One can scarcely imagine the pitch of enthusiasm some of our sportsmen possess for pursuit of the Woodcock. They will walk for ten or twelve hours in the mud, leave shreds of their garments hanging on every bush and bramble they pass, exercise all their ingenuity in manoeuvring and cunning, and, as a recompense for all these exertions, not discouraged, perhaps find "the bird flown." This is a short compendium of the results often enjoyed in seeking this woodland denizen. The chief difficulty in pursuing these birds is, first, to find them, and then to make them flush. Hidden motionless and mute in the thickest bushes, they emit but very little scent to catch the nose of the dog, which ranges about in every direction, disheartened with such laborious and often unprofitable work. After a long trial of patience and perseverance, scratched and torn by thorns and briers, the slightest taint on the air tells the secret--the dog draws. As soon as the sportsman sees or knows that his dog is "pointing" at the game, he advances quietly, and judging as well as he can of the locality of the bird, places himself in the best position for firing when it flushes (Fig. 131). If he misses his aim, all he has to do is to follow up, for it is likely enough to drop again only a short distance off. Still the labour to force the game to take wing a second time is not less arduous than heretofore. Both man and dog are often put on the wrong scent by the turns, twists, and circuits of their tracks, and all the other tricks of concealment with which this bird is familiar. If at last the Woodcock succumbs, it will not be till it has thoroughly fatigued its persecutors. [Illustration: Fig. 131.--Woodcock-shooting.]