108 FEATHERED GAME 



husband is he, but unmistakable among his 

 shorebird neighbors from the oddities of his 

 bill and feet. 



AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 



(Philohela minor.) 



The Woodcock arrives in New England from 

 his winter quarters much earlier than is com- 

 monly supposed. The writer has seen him in 

 the vicinity of Portland, Me., as early as Feb- 

 ruary 10th, though ordinarily he does not reach 

 this latitude before the last of March, the 

 weather, of course, having much to do with his 

 coming. Things start up early in the sheltered 

 openings of the forest and on the sunny hill- 

 sides. Here the woodranger may be agreeably 

 surprised some fine spring morning at meet- 

 ing Mr. Woodcock near some big ant hill which 

 is undergoing repairs at the hands of its ten- 

 ants and being made ready for the year's work. 

 This will supply his wants until the alder cov- 

 ers are ready for him. 



In the latter half of April if the season be 

 warm and forward, the Woodcock builds its 

 nest in a secluded nook — a slight affair of dead 



