320 



LIMICOLM. 



SCOLOPACID.E. 



SCOLOPACID^E. 



SCOLOPAX KUSTICULA, LilinOBUS*. 



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 ; superior 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 young of the Woodcock have 

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



" Scolopax Rusticola, Linnteus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 243 (1766) ; for rustl- 

 ciila : cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. cap. x. 54 (38). 

 t Ornithologic, v. p. 292 (1760). 



