402 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
The young bird has the head and neck fawn- 
colour, streaked with black; the back, scapulars, 
wing-coverts and tertials black, each feather dis- 
tinctly margined with rich rusty, inclining to white 
at the tip of the feather; the tail-feathers barred 
black and rusty towards the tips, a uniform dusky 
towards the base; the fore part of the neck, the 
breast and belly fawn-colour, with a few white 
feathers intermixed on the belly; under tail-coverts 
white: the quills of all are dark dusky, nearly black, 
with white shafts. Yarrell describes the beak as 
brown; irides dusky brown; the legs and toes pale 
yellow-brown; claws black: there appears to be but 
little variation in these parts. 
The eggs are pear-shaped; of an olive ground 
colour, blotched and spotted with olive and liver- 
brown.* 
Woopcock, Scolopax rusticola. ‘The Woodcock 
is sufficiently scarce in many of our coverts to make 
the cry of ‘ Marrk Cock” a sound of considerable 
interest and excitement, and for a few moments after 
it has been uttered, Pheasants, hares and rabbits 
are let pass almost unnoticed, everyone being in an 
intense state of expectation that the Cock flushed 
may pass his way. Occasionally, however, in some 
of our more favoured localities considerable bags 
are made, especially in the autumn, soon after the 
* Yarrell, vol. i., p. 697. 
