1 SCOLOPACID^E. 



by one inch four lines in breadth. I have received the 

 eggs of this bird from Sussex and Hertfordshire, and had 

 one presented to me in the spring of 1839, by Mr. William 

 Rayner of Uxbridge, which was obtained about three miles 

 north-east of that town. 



Mr. Dunn says the Woodcock is occasionally seen both 

 in Orkney and Shetland, but does not stay any time, 

 merely resting itself on its passage to and from the coun- 

 tries bordering the Baltic. 



Mr. Dann informs me that the Woodcock arrives in 

 Scandinavia at the latter end of March or the beginning 

 of April, and is seen at that period in the neighbourhood 

 of the coast in considerable numbers, particularly if the 

 frost be severe. They proceed into the interior, however, 

 with the first west wind. During the summer season 

 they are rarely to be seen on the wing, except at night. 

 They are common and frequently to be seen crossing the 

 Guldsbradalen (Golden Valley] in Norway, and flitting 

 down the road after the sun is down, but it is rare to flush 

 them in the forests. On the island of Hitteren, near 

 Drontheim, they are common, and at Quickiok, in West- 

 ern Lapland, beyond the Arctic Circle. They are widely 

 dispersed, but nowhere numerous. The pine forests are 

 their summer haunts. They breed also in Finland, Russia, 

 and Siberia ; Sir W. Jardine says the Woodcock is found 

 in Silesia, sometimes called Polish Prussia, from April to 

 October. There are said to be but few Woodcocks in 

 Germany, and not many in France. A few breed in 

 Switzerland, but their numbers are very variable. Com- 

 mon in Italy, Corfu, Sicily, and Malta, in winter, and 

 also still further west, south, and east. Dr. Heineken 

 says the Woodcock is found all the year through at 

 Madeira; they are found in. Barbary, are common at 

 Athens : and Mr. Strickland says, Woodcocks were so 



