298 



BBITISH BIRDS 



Woodcock. 



Scolopax rusticula. 



Fig. 101. — Woodcock. ^ natural size. 



Upper plumage reddish brown barred and vermiculated with 

 black ; under parts wood-brown with darker brown bars. Length, 

 fourteen inches. Sexes alilie. 



The woodcock is a large species compared with other snipes, and 

 a very handsome bird in its russet-red plumage, prettily pencilled and 

 barred with various shades of black and brown and grey ; further- 

 more, it is in great esteem for the table, and it is therefore not 

 strange that, like the red grouse, it should be a favourite alike with 

 the ornithologist, the sportsman, and the lover of delicate fare. 



Nocturnal in its habits, the woodcock spends the daylight hours 

 in close concealment in woods and brakes, often under the shelter 

 of a thick evergreen bush, and, it is said, sometimes partially cover- 

 ing itself with dead leaves. Its red and mottled plumage, which so 

 closely assimilates in colour to the fallen leaves among which it 

 sits, is its best protection — a similar case to that of the nightjar 



