the United Kingdom] "Few birds are so much in esteem for the table as these", although he also reported that woodcock meat was not eaten in Sweden or Norway as it was thought unwholesome, but that the eggs were taken and sold in "great numbers" in Stockholm and Gothenburg. In Nicolas Freeling's Kitchen Book he narrates the lavish dinner described in Kipling's Sea Constables, which features woodcock as a savoury, and explains that 'the woodcock has no gall, and is not cleaned [...] the creamy inside parts are spread on toast [...] no Edwardian gentleman would have resisted this for one minute.' Folklore and culture In the United Kingdom, the early arrival of migrant woodcock in autumn was said to mean a good harvest, especially if they stayed until spring. It used to be thought that Eurasian woodcock flew to the moon during the months when they were not seen and the first full moon in November, when large numbers arrive on the British coast, is sometimes described as the 'woodcock moon'. Reaney and Wilson wrote that the English surname "Woodcock" developed as a nickname from the bird, meaning 'a fool, simpleton or dupe'. In William Shakespeare's play Love's Labours Lost, Berowne describes himself and his friends as 'four woodcocks in a dish', after discovering they have all fallen in love when they have sworn not to. An old folk name for the goldcrest was the "woodcock pilot" because of the mistaken belief that the warblers rode in the feathers of migrating woodcock. In Hamlet, Polonius refers to Hamlet's vows as "springes to catch woodcocks". The 'pin feather' of the Eurasian woodcock (the covert feather of the outermost primary) can be used as a fine paintbrush for miniatures, or as a delicate tool for moving tiny objects (e.g. specks of dust). As a painting tool, the feather has been described as "far from ideal, holding very little paint, resisting water and wearing down quickly at the tip." The Eurasian woodcock has been the subject of postage stamps from several countries. A woodcock serves as a symbolic element in the novel The Birds by writer Tarjei Vesaas. References External links Eurasian woodcock photos at Oiseaux.net Woodcock at RSPB Birds by Name Ageing and sexing (PDF; 2.9 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze Feathers of Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) at Ornithos.de Eurasian woodcock Birds of Eurasia Wading birds Birds described in