WOODCOCK. 15 



abundant at Smyrna during the winter of 1835-6, that 

 many were killed in small gardens in the midst of the 

 town ; they are found also in Egypt and Aleppo. The 

 Zoological Society have received notice of our WotSd- 

 cock having been obtained at Cashmere. I possess a 

 skin from India which is identical with our bird, and 

 others have recorded them as inhabiting Thibet, Nepal, 

 and Calcutta; M. Temminck says it is also found in 

 Japan. 



The beak is dark brown at the point, pale reddish brown 

 at the base, and generally about three inches long ; the 

 irides dark brown ; the eye large, convex, and prominent ; 

 from the beak to the eye a dark brown streak : the colour 

 of the plumage of this bird is a mixture, principally of 

 three shades of brown ; namely, pale wood brown, chestnut 

 brown, and dark umber brown ; each feather on the upper 

 surface of the body contains the three shades, but so dis- 

 posed as to produce a beautifully variegated appearance. 

 The cheeks pale wood brown, spotted with dark brown ; 

 the forehead to the top of the head, greyish brown ; occi- 

 put and nape rich dark brown, transversely divided into 

 three nearly equal patches by two bars of yellow wood 

 brown ; each feather of the neck below pale brown, edged 

 with dark brown; the back greyish brown, varied with 

 reddish brown, and dark umber brown ; all the wing- 

 coverts reddish brown, with open oval rings of dark brown ; 

 primary quill -feathers blackish brown, with triangular 

 spots of pale reddish brown along the margin of each web ; 

 secondaries and tertials of the same ground colour, blackish 

 brown, but the light-coloured marks are more elongated, 

 and extend from the margin of the web to the shaft of the 

 feather; rump and upper tail-coverts chestnut brown, 

 tinged with grey and barred transversely with dark brown; 

 tail-feathers black above, tipped with pure dark grey ; chin 



