82 v Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



of a bright ferrugiuous. The male of the American species 

 weighs from five to six ounces, the female eight; the European 

 twelve. The European woodcock makes its first appearance 

 in Britain in October and November, that country being in 

 fact its only winter quarters ; for early in March they move 

 off to the northern parts of the continent to breed. The Ameri- 

 can species, on the contrary, winters in countries south of the 

 United States, arrives here early in March, extends its migra- 

 tions as far, at least, as the river St. Lawrence, breeds in all 

 the intermediate places, and retires again to the south on the 

 approach of winter. The one migrates from the torrid to the 

 temperate regions ; the other from the temperate to the artic." 

 In appearance the male and female woodcock are alike, 

 except that, as we have seen, the female is the largest. The 

 body is stout and the head, bill and eyes are very large. The 

 bill is from two and a half to three inches long. This it uses 

 as a probe in obtaining its food from borings in the mud. Two 

 of these are indicated in the illustration the one just in front 

 and the other in the rear of the right foot. It is said that the 

 tip of the bill is supplied with very delicate nerves which 

 enables the bird to determine when it has touched a worm, 

 and recently Mr. Gordon Trumball has discovered that the 

 bird can move the tip of its upper mandible independently of 

 the lower one, and thus the organ is made to act as a finger to 

 assist it in drawing food from the ground. The eyes are fixed 

 far back from the bill, and high in the head. Wilson says that 

 this construction was necessary to give a greater range of 

 vision and to secure the eye from injury while the owner is 

 searching in the mire for food. Being a bird of nocturnal 

 habits, like the owls and night hawks, its very large eyes with 

 exceedingly large pupils are adapted for seeing in the dark, 

 and accordingly Mr. Chapman calls it the owl among snipes. 

 On the hind part of the head are three transverse black 

 bands, alternating with three others of pale yellowish rufous ; 

 a brownish black line from the eyes to the bill and one be- 

 low the eyes. The upper parts are variegated with pale ashy, 

 yellowish rufous of various shades, and black ; the lower parts 

 are pale rufous, brighest on the sides. The wings are short 

 and rounded ; almost tailless ; tibiae short and feathered to the 



