The Woodcock 



Mildred Jackson 

 West Danby, N. Y. 



One of our best known birds among the sportsman and least 

 known to the casual observer is the American woodcock. Both 

 its appearance and habits are so unusual among the bird world 

 that it deserves particular attention. The coloration of this bird 

 is so wonderfully protective that it is almost impossible to locate 

 it unless it is started from its haunt. The front of the crown is 

 slaty, washed with buff, an indistinct blackish line in its center 

 and another from eye to bill; the back of the head is black with 

 bars of ochraceous buff; the rest of its upper parts are black, 

 margined with slaty and barred and mottled with rufous or 

 ochraceous buff; tip of tail ashy gray above, silvery beneath; 

 underparts between ochraceous buff and rufous; the other three 

 primaries are very narrow and stiffened. 



The male bird is from ten to eleven inches in length and the 

 female about an inch longer. Its range is eastern North America 

 from Canada to the Gulf. It winters south of Virginia but is here 

 a summer resident from February 19th to December 2d. The 

 casual observer would at once note its stocky body, short, stout 

 legs, long, straight, and stout bill and the large eyes on top of its head. 



If we wish to see this bird during the early summer we had 

 better visit the bogs and damp woodlands. Here the moist earth 

 make it comparatively easy for the strong bill to probe for its 

 entire length to the nostril into the soil for earthworms. These 

 are located entirely by the sense of touch, for the eyes are too far 

 back on its head to aid in this ; they are continually watching for the 

 enemy. With such eyes there seems little room for brains but Dr. 

 Cowes says, "If the brain be examined, it will be found curiously 

 tilted over so that its anatomical base looks forward. They are 

 knowing birds if their brains are upset and their successful pursuit 

 calls into action all the better qualities of a true sportsman." 



The upper mandible is longer than the lower mandible, the tip 

 being very sensitive and flexible. It may be moved entirely at 

 will independently of the other; it finds the worm and works it 

 into the mouth as if it were a finger. A group of small round holes 

 in moist soil always denotes the presence of woodcock. Most of 

 their feeding is done at night when the worms come to the surface. 



371 



