CHAPTER XIV. 



March 26 April 1. 



THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 



Order Limicolse Family Scolopacidse 



Genus Philohela Species Philohela minor 



Length 10.50 to 11.75 ! wing, 4.80 to 5.70; bill, 2.50 to 3.00. 

 Migration North, March ; south October. 



The family Scolopacidse, of which the American wood- 

 cock is a member, is composed of the snipes and sandpipers. 

 The family has in it about one hundred species and these are 

 distributed throughout the world. About forty-five of them 

 are found in North America. As a rule, they have long bills 

 with which they probe the soft earth or mud for their food. 

 Most of them are shore birds. 



Our woodcock is called the American woodcock, philo- 

 hela minor, to distinguish it from the European woodcock, 

 scolopax rusticola, which bears a general appearance to the 

 American species. Some of the early writers claimed that they 

 were identical. But Wilson says, "A few traits will clearly 

 point out the difference. The lower parts of the European 

 woodcock are thickly barred with dusky waved lines on a yel- 

 lowish white ground. The present species has those parts 



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