WOODCOCK. 175 



the same degrees do not restrict them; thus, we 

 have the Woodcock extending even beyond the 

 Arctic Circle,* and breeding in Austria, Siberia, and 

 Silesia. In an opposite direction, they reach the 

 Italian States, Smyrna, f and some parts of the 

 African cqast. They are seen at Madeira ;J and 

 Mr. Yarrell states, that the " Zoological Society 

 have received notices of our Woodcock having 

 been obtained at Cashmere ; and Dodah, near Cash- 

 mere," is given by another authority. We possess 

 specimens from India, which we understood came 

 from the alpine districts, the only variation being 

 a greater preponderance of rufous marking the plu- 

 mage. It is also found in Japan. || In the catalogue 

 of the Sumatran and Javanese specimens, collected 

 by Sir Stamford Raffles, it is stated, " There is a spe- 

 cimen in the Sumatran cabinet, nearly allied to the 

 British Woodcock, which remains to be examined." 

 The Woodcock is the largest known species of 

 the genus, weighing from nine to eleven ounces. 

 The colours vary in intensity in different birds, the 

 prevailing tint in some being of a yellowish-grey, in 

 others of a reddish almost sienna-brown. The fore- 

 head, until in a line with the eyes, is grey ; and 

 immediately succeeding, across the crown and nape, 

 there are four bands of rich blackish-brown, the 

 two first very marked and distinct, and all separated 

 by a narrow bar of yellowish or reddish- white ; from 



* Yarrell. f Strickland. J Heineken. 



G. T. Vigne, Esq., Annals of Nat. Hist. viii. p. 2-'5. 



11 Temminck. 



