196 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



p. 256), but there seems to have been some Diistake 

 (Browne, "Birds of Leicestershire," p. 151). 



WOODCOCK. Bcolapax rusticula, Linnseiis. PI. 22, 

 figs. 4, 4a. Length, 14-5 in. ; bill, 2-75 in. : wing, 8 in. ; 

 tarsus, 1*5 in. 



A regular winter visitant, but many pairs an- 

 nually remain to nest in favourable localities. See 

 T. J. Monk's statistics of the breeding of the Wood- 

 cock in East Sussex {Field, Feb. 25, 1871). In 

 seven districts, comprising twenty-one parishes, it 

 was estimated that there were annually from 150 to 

 200 nests of this bird. See also my notes on its 

 nesting in the south and west of England [Field, 

 June 10, 1871), on carrying its young [ZooL, 1879, 

 pp. 433-440, illustrated by Joseph Wolf), and cover- 

 ing itself with dead leaves to favour its conceal- 

 ment (Field, Feb. 29, 1896). 



In Ireland, Mr. Ussher states that this bird 

 breeds in the woodlands of every county, having 

 greatly increased in such localities in summer. The 

 winter immigration, lasting from October until March, 

 is at its height in November and December. 



The noticeable variation in the colour of the first 

 primary is not indicative of sex, as some suppose, 

 but of age, the young birds having the outer web of 

 this feather variegated, the old ones plain. 



Albino and pied varieties have been frequently 

 met with. See my article on "White Woodcocks," 

 Field, Nov. 20, 1897, and a note on Lord Gains- 

 borough's White Woodcock, Zool, 1869, p. 1645. 



Woodcocks have been killed weighing as much as 



