320 



LIMICOLM. 



SCOLOPACID/E. 



SCOLOPACID^E. 



>;^v\,^^^\» / i'/ 



SCOLOPAX RUSTICULA, LillliaiUS*. 



THE WOODCOCK. 



Scolopax rusticola. 



ScoLOPAX, Brissonf. — Beak long, straight, compressed, slender, soft, slightly 

 curved at the point ; both mandibles grooved over the basal half of their length ; 

 point of the upper mandible extending beyond that of the lower mandible, the 

 curved part forming a slight crook ; sui^erior ridge elevated at the base, promi- 

 nent. Nostrils lateral, basal, pierced longitudinally near the edges of the 

 mandible, covered by a membrane. Legs rather short, tibia feathered nearly to 

 joint ; three toes before, one behind, the anterior toes almost entirely divided. 

 Wings moderate, the first quill-feather the longest in the wing. Tail short, 

 rounded . 



Although the eggs or the youug of the Woodcock have 

 been found, during one summer or another, in almost every 



• Scolopax Rusticola, Linnseus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 243 (1766) ; for rusli- 

 rida: cf. Tliny, Nat. Hist. cap. x. 54 (38). 

 + Ornithologie, v. p. 202 (1760). 



