M'OODCOCK. 



583 



GRALLATORES. 



SCOLOPACID.E. 



AY 'r///' 



THE WOODCOCK. 



Scolopax rusticola, The Woodcock, 



B6ca$se ordinaire^ 



Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 40. 



Mont. Ornith. Diet. 



Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 45. 



Flem. Brit. An. p. 105. 



Selby, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 107. 



Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 204. 



Gould, Birds of Europe, pt. xvii. 



Temm. Man. d'Ornith. vol. ii. p. 673. 



Scolopax. Generic Characters. — 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, prominent. Nostrils lateral, basal, pierced longitudinally near the 

 edges of the mandible, covered by a membrane. Legs moderate, slender, 

 naked space on the tibia, but short, or entirely wanting ; three toes before, 

 one behind, the anterior toes entirely, or almost entirely, divided. Wings 

 moderate, the first or the second quill-feather the longest in the wing. 



