GRALLATORES: SCOLOPACID^E. 



body variegated with ashy Fig - I35 - 



reddish and black ; the under 

 parts pale rufous, bill brown, 

 and legs pale reddish. The 

 Woodcock is mainly noctur- 

 nal in its habits, seldom tak- 

 ing wing in the full light 



Of day UnleSS disturbed. It American Woodcock, P. minor, Gray. 



walks about, however, and feeds by day as well as by 

 night. Its food is mainly earthworms, of which it swal- 

 lows as many in a day as would equal its own weight ; 

 and hence its favorite resorts are where it can obtain 

 these worms in abundance. The moist grounds which 

 these birds frequent are perfectly filled with bill-holes 

 which they have made in probing for worms ; and these 

 holes become a guide to the hunter, who looks at their 

 frequency and freshness when he would find good shoot- 

 ing. When flushed by the hunter or the dog, the Wood- 

 cock ordinarily flies but a short distance, plunging into 

 a clump of bushes or thicket near by, or a thicker part 

 of the swamp. It spends the winter in warm climates, 

 but breeds from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia. The nest, 

 made of dead leaves and grass, is placed under a bush, 

 or beside a fallen trunk. The eggs, which are laid from 

 February to June, according to locality, are usually four, 

 dull yellowish clay-color, irregularly and thickly marked 

 with dark brown. In three or four weeks from the time 

 the young are hatched, they are able to fly ; and when 

 six weeks old, they fly almost as well as the old ones. 



The Genus Gallinago has a more slender body, and 

 longer legs, than Philohela. 



Wilson's or the English Snipe, G. Wilsonii, Bonap., of 

 the temperate regions of North America, is ten and a 

 half inches long, and the wing five inches ; upper parts 

 brownish black, marked with light rufous, yellowish 



