124 EEPOET OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



228 Philohela minor (Gmelin). 

 Woodcock. 



PLATE 18. 



Adults. — Length, 10.50-11.75. Wiug, 4.80-5.70. Upper parts barred irregu- 

 larly with black and rusty, with pale gray spots down the back ; back of head 

 with three broad black transverse bands bounded and separated by narrow ful- 

 vous bands ; under parts, uniform cinnamon, a dusky bar from the eye to the 

 bill, and another across the ear-coverts ; wing quills, dull brownish-gray ; tail 

 feathers, black, tipped with gray above and white beneath. 



Nest in dry leaves in the woods ; eggs, four, buff, spotted with reddish-brown, 

 1.50 X 1.15. 



Summer resident, but most abundant in migrations, and occasional 

 in winter. Much less abundant than formerly. 



Mr. H. W. Hand tells me that the spring flight is particularly 

 noticeable at Cape May, beginning from February 28th to March 9th. 

 In autumn the migration occurs during October and November. 

 About South Orange Mr. AY. A. Babson states that the birds seem 

 to be increasing with the abandonment of summer shooting. The 

 flight occurs there in fall, from October 15th to November 28th, At 

 Pj-inceton he found them staying until December, and at Haddonfield 

 Mr. ,S. N. Ehoads found one on January 1st, 1881. Mr. Hand also 

 tells me that they occasionally occur in winter at Cape. May. 



Mr. W. B. Crispin found a nest at Pennsgrove May 20th, 1903; 

 Mr. A. H. Jillson took a set of eggs at Tuckerton May 13th, 1884, and 

 Mr. Hann reports a few nesting at Summit, but it is becoming a 

 rare breeder in the State. 



In the old days the abundance of the Woodcock may be judged from 

 the statement of a writer in Doughty's Cabinet of Natural History, 

 who says that in 1825, on the Cohansey River, three men, in two 

 hours, killed upwards of forty on a very small tract of ground. 



The Woodcock is a grotesque-looking bird, with his large round 

 eyes perched high up and far back on the head. He is a bird of 

 low-wooded country, where areas of soft mud afford him good feeding 

 grounds, and where we can see countless borings as evidence of his 

 presence. 



The unfortunate and absurd practice of shooting Woodcock in July 



