320 



LIM1COLM. 



SCOLOPACID.E. 



SCOLOPACIDrf. 



SCOLOPAX KUSTICULA, Linnaeus*. 

 THE WOODCOCK. 

 Scolopax rusticola. 



SCOLOPAX, Brisson-\: Beak long, straight, compressed, slender, soft, slightly 

 curved at the point ; both mandibles grooved over the basal half of their length ; 

 point of the upper mandible extending beyond that of the lower mandible, the 

 curved part forming a slight crook ; superior ridge elevated at the base, promi- 

 nent. Nostrils lateral, basal, pierced longitudinally near the edges of the 

 mandible, covered by a membrane. Legs rather short, tibia feathered nearly to 

 joint ; three toes before, one behind, the anterior toes almost entirely divided. 

 Wings moderate, the first quill-feather the longest in the wing. Tail short, 

 rounded. 



ALTHOUGH the eggs or the young of the Woodcock have 

 been found, during one summer or another, in almost every 



Scolopax Rusticola, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 243 (1766) ; for rusti- 

 cula: cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. cap. x. 54 (38). 

 t Ornithologie, v. p. 292 (1760). 



