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- 
fand. The nest-scrape is scantily lined with bents, pebbles 
or rabbit droppings. 
Higgs. Normally 2. Generally of a shade of buff, blotched, 
streaked and spotted with browns and underlying ash-grey. 
Av. size, 2°1x 152 in. Laying begins April-May. One brood. 
(5) Family: Charadriide. (a) Subfamily: Scolopacine— 
Woodcock and Snipes 
119. Woodcock [Scolopax rusticola Linneus]. Resident 
and widely distributed in our woodlands, 
Bird. Length 14} 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 
Fic. 73 more defined dusky bars across 
ity 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. 
figgs. Usually 4. Shades of yellow and brown spotted and 
blotched with browns and underlying ash-grey. Av. size, 
1:74 1°33 in. Laying begins March-April. One brood, pos- 
sibly two. 
120. Common-snipe [Gallinago gallinago gallinago (Linneeus) ; 
Gallinago celestis (Frenzel)|. Resi- 
am dent, prefers marshy areas. 
=< Fee, Bird. Length 10 in., therefore 
oN “? distinctly smaller than the woodcock, 
Fig. 74 from which it may also be. dis- 
ES 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 
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