2268 PLOVERS, SANDPIPERS, SNIPE, JACANAS, GULLS 



rapid, and long-sustained flight, frequently accompanied by those peculiar zig-zag 

 dartings when frightened, which renders snipe shooting in many countries so diffi- 

 cult to the inexperienced. The long and sensitive beak is adapted for probing in soft 

 mud in search of the insects, larvae, and worms on which these birds chiefly subsist. 

 Although each male invariably pairs with a single female in all the species, some 

 may be gregarious at certain seasons, while others are always solitary. All fre- 

 quent either marshes or woodland swamps; and they make slight nests on the 

 ground in which are deposited four pear-shaped and spotted eggs. In the young 

 the beak is comparatively short. The genus comprises seventeen species, some of 

 which are divided into local varieties, and have a world-wide distribution, four of 

 the species occurring in the British Islands, where, however, only two breed. 



Contrasted with the common snipe, the woodcock differs so markedly 

 in several features that if we had these two alone to deal with they 

 might be referred to distinct genera, but the existence of more or less completely 

 intermediate types renders it preferable to follow Mr. Seebohm in including the 

 whole under the genus Scolopax. In the snipe a considerable portion of the tibia is 

 bare, whereas in the woodcock (S. rusticola) it is completely feathered; there are 

 fourteen tail feathers in the former and twelve in the latter; in the snipe the pri- 

 maries are long and the secondaries short, whereas the reverse is the case with its 

 cousin; the black markings on the head of the snipe are longitudinal, and commence 

 at the beak, while in the woodcock they are transverse and confined to the back of 

 the head; the under surface of the tail feathers of the woodcock have silvery- white 

 tips, which are wanting in the snipe; the snipe has uniformly-colored primary quills, 

 while those of the woodcock are barred; lastly, the eggs of the woodcock have a 

 much paler ground color than those of the snipe. Measuring from thirteen to 

 fourteen inches in length, the common woodcock may be distinguished from its 

 allies by the above-mentioned transverse markings on the head, and the silvery tips 

 to the under surface of the tail feathers, coupled with the barred breast, and the 

 bars on both webs of the primaries; and it will thus be unnecessary to describe the 

 bird in detail, although reference must be made to its large, brown, beady eye. 

 Breeding as far north as the Arctic Circle in forest districts, and as far south as 

 the Alps, Caucasus, and Himalayas, at considerable elevations, as well as in the 

 mountains of Japan, the common woodcock ranges over the greater part of Europe 

 and Asia, visiting India and the adjacent regions in winter. Although the individ- 

 uals breeding in the extreme north are migratory, those whose nesting haunts are 

 more to the south are probably resident. The smaller North- American woodcock 

 (S. minor) differs by the narrowness of the first three primary quills, and the 

 nearly-uniform coloration of all the primaries and under parts; the Moluccan wood- 

 cock (S. rochusseni) has a uniform breast and barred primaries; while in the 

 medium-sized Horsfield's woodcock (S. saturata) of Java and New Guinea, only 

 the outer webs of the primaries are barred. In the same group with the woodcocks 

 Mr. Seebohm includes six southern species which he terms semi-woodcocks, five of 

 which are from South America, while the last (S. aucklandica) is from New Zea- 

 land. Possessing the longitudinal head markings of the two groups of snipe, these 

 birds differ from all the latter either by having not more than sixteen tail feathers, 



