Why do poachers light fires on the coasts to catch woodcocks?

Because woodcocks, migrating during the night, and being attracted by the light, bend their course thither; in which manner great numbers are annually destroyed.

Why are the nests of woodcocks and fieldfares so rarely found in England?

Because those birds leave us in the spring, in order to cross the seas, and to retire to some districts more suitable to the purpose of breeding. "That the former pair before they retire," observes Mr. White, " and that the hens are forward with egg, I myself, when I was a sportsman, have often experienced." - Nat. Hist, of Selborne.