402 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



The young bird has the head and neck fawn- 

 colour, streaked with hlack ; the hack, scapulars, 

 wing-coverts and tertials black, each feather dis- 

 tinctly margined with rich rusty, inclining to white 

 at the tip of the feather; the tail-feathers barred 

 black and rusty towards the tips, a uniform dusky 

 towards the base ; the fore part of the neck, the 

 breast and belly fawn-colour, with a few white 

 feathers intermixed on the belly ; under tail-coverts 

 white : the quills of all are dark dusky, nearly black, 

 with white shafts. Yarrell describes the beak as 

 brown ; hides dusky brown ; the legs and toes pale 

 yellow-brown ; claws black : there appears to be but 

 little variation in these parts. 



The eggs are pear-shaped ; of an olive ground 

 colour, blotched and spotted with olive and liver- 

 brown.* 



WOODCOCK, Scolopax rusticola. The Woodcock 

 is sufficiently scarce in many of our coverts to make 

 the cry of " Marrk Cock " a sound of considerable 

 interest and excitement, and for a few moments after 

 it has been uttered, Pheasants, hares and rabbits 

 are let pass almost unnoticed, everyone being in an 

 intense state of expectation that the Cock flushed 

 may pass his way. Occasionally, however, in some 

 of our more favoured localities considerable bags 

 are made, especially in the autumn, soon after the 



* Yarrell, vol. ii., p. 697. 



