WOODCOCK. 



419 



a. About eleven inches long. Beneath, varying from 

 (very) pale reddish buff to ruddy chestnut, darkest on the 

 sides, whitening on the chin and cheeks. Above, varied with 

 the same tint, with black, and with grayish. Forehead 



Fig. 22. Woodcock. () 



scarcely marked, but bordered by a dark, irregular (and 

 often indistinct) line from the bill to the eye. Immature 

 specimens are paler and grayer above, and have several white 

 markings. 



b. The eggs average about 1.50x1-20 of an inch, though 

 variable in size and shape, and are creamy, brownish, or clay- 

 color, spotted and blotched with lilac and rather dull or in- 

 distinct browns. In Massachusetts, a set of four is usually 

 laid about the middle of April. The places chosen are 



Vermont, but in Massachusetts and to 

 the southward its numbers have de- 

 creased steadily and very rapidly dur- 

 ing the past twenty years. Indeed, in 

 many localities, especially in eastern 

 Massachusetts, it has become a posi- 

 tively rare bird during the summer 

 The diminution in the number 



of migrants, although sufficiently seri- 

 ous and alarming, is much less than 

 that of our local birds, and many of 

 the old-time coverts continue to afford 

 fairly good autumn shooting. The 

 species has been known to occur in 

 midwinter in southern New England. 

 W. B. 



