60 BRITISH BIRDS 



eye and the long yellow legs. Upper-parts mostly buff 

 streaked with dark brown. Two white bars on the wing. 

 Wing quills dusky with white patches near the tips of the 

 outermost. Under-parts white or whitish, except the forebreast 

 and flanks, which are tinged pale brown streaked dark brown. 

 Irregular white patch on the side of the head. Beak yellow 

 with black tips. 



Nest. On the ground, on open commons, and waste- 

 land. The nest-scrape is scantily lined with bents, pebbles 

 or rabbit droppings. 



Eggs. Normally 2. Generally of a shade of buff, blotched, 

 streaked and spotted with browns and underlying ash-grey. 

 Av. size, 2*1 x 1'52 in. Laying begins April-May. One brood. 



(5) Family: Charadriidce. (a) Subfamily: Scolopacince 

 Woodcock and Snipes 



119. Woodcock [Scolopax rusticola Linnaeus]. Resident 

 and widely distributed in our woodlands. 



Bird. Length 14J in. Distinguished from the following 



species by its larger size, the 

 broad dark bands which cross 

 the nape and the hinder half of 

 the head and from side to side, 

 and by the much narrower and 

 more denned dusky bars across 

 the pale buff or whitish breast. 

 On the back and wings is an intricate pattern of chestnuts 

 and blacks, varied with silver-grey. Primaries dark grey with 

 patches of chestnut and white tips. 



Nest. A depression on the ground, usually in a wood among 

 bracken or other cover, lined with a few leaves or moss. 



Eggs. Usually 4. Shades of yellow and brown spotted and 

 blotched with browns and underlying ash-grey. Av. size, 

 l'74x 1-33 in. Laying begins March-April. One brood, pos- 

 sibly two. 



120. Common-snipe [Gallinago gallinago gallinago (Linnseus) 



Gallinago ccelestis (Frenzel)]. Resi- 

 dent, prefers marshy areas. 



Bird. Length 10 in., therefore 

 distinctly smaller than the woodcock, 

 from which it may also be dis- 

 tinguished by the arrangement of the 

 lines on the crown, which pass from front to back. The lines 

 are three in number, and buff on a dusky brown ground. 

 The pattern of the upper-parts is chiefly of black and shades 

 of buff with grey added on the wings. Along the back run 



Fig. 74. 



