WOODCOCK {Philohela minor) breed 

 throughout eastern United States and the 

 adjacent Canadian Provinces and winter 

 chiefly in our southeastern states. They are 

 stockily built, upland game birds, measuring 

 about ii in. in length, of which length about 

 one quarter is contained in the long heavy 

 bill. They feed at night in muddy places in 

 bogs, swamps or along brooks, their bills 

 with the flexible, finger-like tips being ad- 

 mirably adapted to withdrawing worms 

 from their places of concealment. Their 

 eyes, which are large so that they may see 

 well after dark, are placed far back and close 

 to the top of the head so they may see about 

 them when their bills are immersed to their 

 hilts in mud. After showers Woodcock fre- 

 quently come even into large cities and 

 gather worms from lawns. This accounts 

 for the numbers that are caught by cats and 

 that are found dead after having flown into 

 unseen wires. Because of their feeding 

 habits, they are locally known as "Bog- 

 birds." The term "Whistling Snipe" is 

 sometimes applied, because during flight the 

 three outer wing feathers, which are very stiff 

 and narrow, produce a shrill whistling sound. 

 Woodcock lay their four pear-shape eggs 

 in depressions among dead leaves in thickets 

 or woods, usually late in March or early in 

 April. 



Their flight is fast and very erratic, making them difficult targets for the 

 novice, which fact accounts for their continued existence in the face of the 

 annual shooting to which they are subjected. 



WILSON SNIPE (Gattinago delicata). These birds, which measure about 

 the same as Woodcock, although their bodies are much smaller, are common 

 throughout North America, breeding in northern United States and Canada 

 and wintering in southern United States. They frequent meadows and other 

 open wet places, from which they flush with a sharply whistled "scaipe" and 

 go zigzagging away in a manner most confusing to any but a tried gunner. 

 They are almost wholly known among the sporting fraternity as Jacksnipe. 



Their excellent flesh, as well as the difficulty of shooting them, make 

 them very popular among gunners. 



WOODCOCK 

 WILSON SNIPE 



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