300 BIRDS. GilALLATOIlES. 



rivers, where the mud is deep, and supplies them with worms, the larvze of insects, 

 &c. Their period of migration coincides with that of the snipes. They moult twice 

 a-year, and the females later than the males. 



L. melanura, Leisler. Black-tailed God wit. Upper parts brown 

 uniform ash-colour ; throat, breast, and flanks clear gray ; a white 

 spot on the quills ; tail uniform black ; pure white at the base ; 

 claw of the middle toe long and dentated. 1 6 inches long. In- 

 habits Europe. B Shaw, xii. pi. 11. 



L. rufa, Briss. Red Godwit. Bill turned upwards ; all the fea- 

 thers of the tail on both webs with eight or nine blackish bands ; 

 claws of the middle toe short, without dentations. 13 J inches 

 long. Inhabits Europe. B. Shaw, xii. pi. 12. 



Gen. 25, SCOLOPAX, Lin. Rusticdla, Vieill. 



Bill long, straight, compressed, slender, soft, with the tip tu- 

 mid ; both mandibles channelled the half of their length, the 

 tip of tbe upper projecting beyond that of the under, and the 

 tumid portion being hooked ; nostrils lateral, basal, longi- 

 tudinally cleft near the edges of the mandible, and covered 

 by a membrane ; legs slender, with a very small naked space 

 above the knee ; the three fore toes quite divided, or rarely 

 the outer and middle united. 



The species which compose this genus live in woods or marshes, and subsist on 

 small slugs or worms. In some countries they are stationary, but in most migra- 

 tory. They abound more in the northern than in the southern regions, and they 

 moult twice a-year, but without inducing those remarkable changes of plumage ob- 

 servable in some of the preceding families. Cuvier. remarks that the peculiar character 

 in these birds, of having the head much compressed, and large eyes, placed much 

 behind, giving them a stupid appearance, is not contradicted by their manners. 



* With the tibia Jeathered to the knee. 



S. rusticola, Lin. (Rusticola vulgaris, Vieill.) The Woodcock. 

 Upper parts varied with reddish-yellow and ash-colour, and 

 marked with large black spots ; occiput banded transversely ; 

 under parts reddish-yellow, with zigzag brown lines j quills band- 

 ed with red and black upon the exterior webs. 13 inches long. 

 Inhabits Northern Europe. B Shan, xii. pi. 7- 

 This well-known species inhabits the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and Afri- 

 ca, migrating on the approach of winter to more temperate latitudes. In this island 

 it seldom appears in numbers till about the middle of November. They generally 

 come with northerly or easterly winds ; and, if intense cold suddenly overtakes them, 

 they sometimes arrive on the coasts in large flocks, and after remaining for a day to 

 recruit their strength, disperse over the interior of the country. 



* * Inferior part of the tibia naked. 



S. major, Lin. Great Snipe. Upper parts varied with black and 

 bright red, the red dispersed longitudinally ; lower parts whitish- 

 red ; tail of sixteen feathers ; shaft of the first quill-feather whit- 

 ish. 10 inches long. Northern Europe. B. Shaw, xii. pi. 8. 



S. galtinago, Lin. Common Snipe. Tail composed of fourteen 

 feathers ; all the shafts of the quills brown. 10 inches long. In- 

 habits Europe. B Bewick, ii. 68. 



