WOODCOCK AND SNIPE 



[ORDER: Charadriiformes. SUBORDER: Limicolce. FAMILY: Charadriidce. 



SUBFAMILY: Scolopacince] 



PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



W O O D C O C K [Scolopax rusticola Linnaeus. Muffcock ; muckle-snippack 

 (Shetlands). French, becasse ; German, Wcddschnepfe ; Italian, beccaccia]. 



i. Description. Apart from its large size, the woodcock may easily be dis- 

 tinguished by the broad transverse black bands which cross the back of the head 

 and nape, and the closely barred under parts. The sexes are alike, and there is no 

 seasonal change of coloration. Length 14'25 in. [361*94 mm.]. (PL 113.) The fore- 

 head and crown are of a brownish grey, sometimes finely barred with darker grey, 

 and generally marked with an incipient median stripe running backwards from the 

 culmen. The hind crown, occiput, and nape are crossed by four bars of dark 

 chocolate-brown, almost black, divided from one another by narrow bands of buff. 

 The lores are marked by a narrow band of dark chocolate-brown, and there is a 

 similar band below the eye running back to join the lowermost nuchal band. The 

 back of the neck is of a brownish grey blotched with black, while the sides and 

 front of the neck are greyish buff, marked by fine subcrescentic dusky bars. The 

 throat is white, bounded below by a more or less distinct subcrescentic band of 

 dull black and chestnut. The back and wings are of varying shades of chestnut, 

 barred and blotched with black. The interscapular region is bounded on either 

 side by a more or less conspicuous longitudinal band of silver-grey, while the central 

 area of the region is marked by two broad irregular bands of black, and barred 

 obscurely with dull black. The scapulars are chestnut-red, and marked by narrow 

 bars of black and irregularly disposed blotches of black and silver-grey, forming in 

 some individuals a more or less distinct longitudinal band, in others isolated patches. 

 The marginal wing-coverts are of a chestnut or sometimes brownish red, and marked 



