The 215 Woodcock nest record cards collected between 1945 and 1971, together with additional data from the diaries of the late Arthur Whitaker, show that the breeding season begins in mid-March, and continues to the beginning of July, with a peak at the end of March. The evidence for one or more broods is conflicting.The average incubation period from seven accurate records is 22.3 days. The interval between eggs laid is usually 24 hours, with some records of at least 48 hours. The average clutch size of 132 nests is 3.9, 84% of the clutches being of four eggs. No regional or seasonal differences were found. The brood size from 54 nests is on average 3.5 young.Using all nests of known outcome 63.6% of the eggs laid subsequently hatched. Excluding total failures, 90.3% of all eggs hatched. Nesting success (percentage of nests started which produced at least one chick) was 66.4%. Productivity per pair per year (average brood size X nesting success) is 2.3, if single brooded. Annual adult mortality estimates derived from ringing data were compared with productivity from nest record card data.The habitat and nest site information from nest record cards are briefly described.