382 TEN YEARS IN SWEDEN. 



A character of this genus is the large pale longitudinal 

 streaks down the back. The colour is not changed either 

 by difference of sex, age, or season. All summer migrants 

 to the north. 



Subgen. Rusticola. 



Tibia feathered to the joint ; tarsi short ; toes altoge- 

 ther divided ; hind claw shorter than toe. 



207. SCOLOPAX KUSTICOLA, L. Morkulla. The Woodcock. 



D. F. 



Length 14^ in. ; beak 2 in. 6 1. ; tarsus 1 in. 3 1. ; 

 tail, beyond the wings, 1 in., with twelve feathers. 

 Back of the head with black and rusty yellow trans- 

 verse bands; whole plumage above variegated with 

 black, grey, and ferruginous yellow-white; underneath 

 with transverse undulating lines. The female may be 

 distinguished from the male by the outermost primary, 

 which is rusty yellow or white on the edge, without 

 spots. In the male, this feather is barred trans- 

 versely on the edge with black. Weight varies ; a good 

 cock, especially in the spring, will weigh twelve ounces. 

 The woodcock generally makes its appearance on the 

 southern coast early in April, and leaves again in the end of 

 October or November. During the summer they are thinly 

 spread over the whole country to far up in Norway, but not 

 so far as Lapland. 



They breed generally in rocky fir woods, and the female 

 lays four thick, shortish, pyriform eggs, larger than those 

 of the great snipe; light greyish yellow, strewed all over 

 with brown and ash grey spots of different sizes. Nests 



early in May. 



* 

 Subgen. Scolopax. 



Lower part of the tibia naked ; tarsi more elongated ; 

 toes entirely divided or united at the base with a very short 

 membrane ; hind claw longer than the toe. 



208. S. MAJOR, Gmel. Dubbel Becassin. The Great 

 Snipe. D. F. 



