686 The American IVoodcock. 



in a net-work above him, until he has topped the undergrowth, and 

 then darts off in a straight line for fifty or a hundred yards, to 

 plunge once more into his beloved cover. 



In some parts of Canada the woodcock is known as a " bog- 

 sucker," while in the sea-board counties of Virginia he is a "night 

 partridge" or a "pewee," and again, in portions of North Caro- 

 lina, a " night peck." 



As compared with his European cousin of the same name, 

 the American woodcock is a small bird, weighing only from five 

 to nine ounces. He is eleven or twelve inches in length, and of 

 this the bill occupies from two and one-half to three inches. The 

 plumage below is rich russet-brown, paling, on the upper breast, 

 sides of the neck, and forehead, to ashen-gray. The crown is 

 black with two or three cross-lines of tawny, and the back is curi- 

 ously mottled with tawny, ash-gray and black, the latter predom- 

 inating. The tail feathers are black, barred with tawny, their tips 

 smoky-gray on the upper side and snow-white beneath. The legs 

 and feet are pale flesh-color, the bill dark horn-color at the tip, be- 

 coming paler at the base, and the large, soft, humid eyes are brown. 



The group of birds to which the woodcock and his near rela- 

 tive, the so-called "English" snipe belong, have a number of curious 

 anatomical features, which have a direct relation to their mode of 

 life. In most of the species the eye is very large, and placed high 

 up and far back on the head, and the external opening of the ear is 

 directly beneath, instead of behind it ; the brain is tilted up, so to 

 speak, and hence its base looks forward, instead of downward, as is 

 usually the case with birds. The bill is soft and swollen at the tip, 

 and is abundantly supplied with nerves, thus becoming a very delicate 

 organ of touch. The birds are nocturnal or crepuscular in habit, 

 and secure their food by probing and feeling for it in the soft ground. 

 But they do not always, even if their brains are one quarter turned 

 round, fall an easy prey to their human enemies. 



The woodcock is almost the first of our migrants to return in 

 the spring, and soon after his arrival, which is usually in March, 

 he makes his presence known to those who understand where and 

 when to listen for him, by the curious night song with which he 

 wooes his mate. On warm, moonlight evenings he takes his flight 

 high in air, and when far above the earth utters at frequent intervals 



