328 WOODCOCK. 



is not mentioned as a bird of Hudson's Bay ; and being altogether un- 

 known in the northern parts of Europe, it is very probable that its 

 migrations do not extend to a very high latitude ; for it may be laid 

 down as a general rule, that those birds which migrate to the arctic 

 regions in either continent, are very often common to both. The head 

 of the Woodcock is of singular conformation, large, somewhat triangular, 

 and the eye fixed at a remarkable distance from the bill, and high in the 

 head. This construction was necessary to give a greater range of vision, 

 and to secure the eye from injury while the owner is searching in the 

 mire. The flight of the Woodcock is slow. When flushed at any time 

 in the woods, he rises to the height of the bushes or underwood, and 

 almost instantly drops behind them again at a short distance, generally 

 running oS for several yards as soon as he touches the ground. The 

 notion that there are two species of Woodcock in this country probably 

 originated from the great difl"erence of size between the male and female, 

 the latter being considerably the larger. 



The male Woodcock is ten inches and a half long, and sixteen inches 

 in extent ; bill a brownish flesh color, black towards the tip, the upper 

 mandible ending in a slight knob, that projects about one-tenth of an 

 inch beyond the lower,* each grooved, and in length somewhat more 

 than two inches and a half; forehead, line over the eye, and whole lower 

 parts, reddish tawny ; sides of the neck inclining to ash ; between the 

 eye and bill a slight streak of dark brown ; crown, from the forepart of 

 the eye backwards, black, crossed by three narrow bands of brownish 

 white ; cheeks marked with a bar of black, variegated with light brown ; 

 edges of the back, and of the scapulars, pale bluish white ; back and 

 scapulars deep black, each feather tipped or marbled with light brown 

 and brioht ferruginous, with numerous fine zigzag lines of black crossing 

 the lighter parts ; quills plain dusky brown ; tail black, each feather 

 marked along the outer edge with small spots of pale brown, and ending 

 in narrow tips of a pale drab color above, and silvery white below ; 

 lining of the wing bright rust ; legs and feet a pale reddish flesh color ; 

 eye very full and black, seated high, and very far back in the head ; 

 weight five ounces and a half, sometimes six. 



The female is twelve inches long, and eighteen in extent ; weighs 

 eight ounces ; and diff'ers also in having the bill very near three inches 

 in length ; the black on the back is not quite so intense ; and the sides 

 under the wings are slightly barred with dusky. 



The young Woodcocks, of a week or ten days old, are covered with 



* Mr. Pennant (Arct. Zool. p. 463), in describing the American Woodcock, says, 

 that the lower mandible is much shorter than the upper. From the appearance of 

 his figure, it is evident that the specimen from which that and his description were 

 taken, had lost nearly half an inch from the lower mandible, probably broken off 

 by accident. Turton and others have repeated this mistake. 



