Catalogue of Birds. 293 



after taking off its skin I had the body cooked and was able to 

 partake of a dish not usual in America. It probably came by 

 the way of Iceland and Greenland, a route by which other 

 European species occasionally reach ns. 



A friend of mine shot a large "Woodcock near Newport, R. I., 

 which weighed fourteen ounces ; he was struck with its great 

 size when it rose, but unfortunately did not preserve it. The 

 probability is that it was of this species. 



In Lewis's American Sportsman, Philadelphia, 1S63, under 

 the title Woodcock, he has in a foot note as follows : " G. D. 

 Wetherill, Esq., informed us, a few days since, that a gentleman 

 sent him, a year or two ago, a woodcock that weighed fourteen 

 ounces, which was shot in New Jersey, and it was his intention 

 to have had it mounted, but, owing to the negligence of the 

 party who brought the bird, it was too far gone before he 

 received it." 



This no doubt was also the European species. Mr. Lewis 

 says, the American bird is much smaller than the foreign, " in 

 fact w r eighs fully one third less, seldom exceeding six or nine 

 ounces ; w r hile the ordinary weight of the English cock is never 

 less than twelve or fourteen ounces," etc. 



In advance sheets of Prof. Baird's article on the Distribution 

 and Migration of Birds, published in the Am. Journ. of Science 

 and Arts, Vol. XLL, I notice that a specimen is recorded as 

 obtained in Newfoundland. 



191. Philohela minor (Gm.). American "Woodcock. 

 Some years ago I saw a specimen of this species which was 



killed in the Park of the City Hall, opposite the Astor House ; 

 a gentleman who saw it come down, procured a gun, put it up 

 and shot it. I started one many years ago from a gutter in 

 Pearl street near Franklin scpiare, a section of the city closely 

 built up. 



192. Gallinago Wilsonii (Temm.). English Snipe. 



193. 3Iacroramphits griseus (Gm.). Red-breasted Snipe. 



194. " ;_ scolopaceus (Say). Long-billed Snipe. 



APEIL, 1S66. 22 ,| Ann. Lto. Nat. Hist., Vol. VIII. 



