36 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



— and searches for food in the soft ploughed ground, where 

 its presence is indicated by the holes made by its bill. In 

 seasons of excessive drought the Woodcock resorts in large 

 numbers to tide-water creeks, and the banks of fresh-water 

 rivers; but so averse is it to an excess of water, that after 

 continued or very heavy rains it has been known suddenly to 

 disappear over widely extended tracts of country." (Brewer.) 

 A curious habit of the Woodcock, and one which is compara- 

 tively little known, is that of carrying its young in order to re- 

 move them from danger. This has been attested by so many 

 reliable observers that there can be little doubt as to its 

 truth. 



Genus GALLINAGO Leach. 



Gallinago Leach, Cat. British Birds, 1816, 31. Type, Hcolopax major Linn. 



Chab. Lower portion of the tibia bare of feathers, scutellate before and behind, reticu- 

 lated laterally, like the tarsi. Nail of hind toe slender, extending beyond the toe. Bill de- 

 pressed at the tip. Middle toe longer than tarsus. Tail with twelve to twenty-six feathers 

 Plumage the same in winter and summer; young like the adult in colors and markings. 



The more slender body, longer legs, partly naked tibia, and other features, distinguish 

 this genus from Scolopax and PJdlolieia, and the cleft toes from 3facrorhamphus. 



The species of Gallinago are quite numerous, about fifteen be 

 ing recognized, this number nearly equally divided between Amer- 

 ica and various portions of the Old World. Of the seven Ameri- 

 can species, North America claims but two, the common Wilson's 

 Snipe, or, as it is perhaps more popularly known, the "English 

 Snipe," from its very close resemblance to the Common Snipe 

 of Europe, and the latter species itself, which has been taken in 

 Greenland. With a few exceptions, the various species resemble 

 one another very closely in colors and markings, — in some cases 

 so much so that it is necessary to resort to the rectrices in 

 order to discover tangible points of difference. 



The single species peculiar to North America has usually six- 

 teen rectrices, of which the outer is not notably narrower than 

 the rest; its nearest relative, the European G. gallinago, has 

 usually but fourteen tail-feathers, of which the outer pair are 

 differently marked from those of G. delicata ; and the several 

 South American species possess from fourteen to eighteen rec- 

 trices, of which the outer pair are very narrow. 



