498 THE WILSON SNIPE. 



The Woodhen's eggs are placed on the ground in damp woods, usually 

 upon a bed of leaves carelessly drawn together, and sometimes under the 

 protection of a projecting root or fallen log. Of the eggs Dr. Howard 

 Jones says, ''Four eggs are the usual number in a set. I have never found 

 more than this, but I have seen an old bird with five young ones. As is 

 usual, the second set probably contains one less than the first. The ground 

 color of the shell is brown, of different shades in different sets. In some it 

 is a light Vandyke brown ; in others it is a moderately dark tint of the 

 same color ; in others it is a light shade of bistre ; while in others it is a 

 yellowish-brown, such as may be formed with bistre and yellow ochre. The 

 markings consist of numerous blotches, spots and speckles, often confluent, 

 distributed most numerously about the larger end. The deep shell marks 

 appear purplish or neutral tint, while the surface marks are of various shades 

 of the ground color, always, of course, deeper in tint. When placed upon 

 a bed of winter-beaten oak leaves, the colors of the eggs and leaves are so 

 similar that I know of no eggs which offer a better example of protective 

 coloring. In shape the eggs are not very different from common hen's 

 eggs." 



The female sits for three weeks, and the young when hatched imme- 

 diately desert the nest. They are quaint little toddlers, by no means able 

 to care for themselves for all of their independence. They remain under 

 the care of the mother for at least a month, and it is asserted that she some- 

 times transports them from place to place by clasping them, one at a time, 

 between her thighs. 



It is a little hard to see why our Solons have elected August as the 

 month in which we may hunt Woodcock. At that time the young of the 

 second brood are not fully grown, and the older birds are moulting; some 

 of them, indeed, at this season being quite incapacitated for flight. Sep- 

 tember shooting would not only afford better protection but better sport ; 

 and an open season from, say, September loth to October 2Oth, would be best 

 for all. The Woodcocks linger until the first really severe frosts have 

 made further operations in the mud impossible, and then all take flight for 

 (he south, whether it be in October or late November. 



No. 226. 



WILSON SNIPE. 



A. O. U. No. 230. Gallinago delicata (Ord). 



Synonyms. AMERICAN SNIPLC; JACK SNIPE; "ENGLISH" SNIPE; BOG- 

 SUCKER. 



