THE WOODCOCK. 



Scolopax rusticola. 



HIS comparatively common 

 bird is a species of the 

 Grallatores or Wading birds, 

 and belongs to the sub- 

 family of the ScolopacinaB or 

 Snipes. Owing to its shy 

 and retiring habits, and the 

 fact that it seeks its food 

 by night, the Woodcock is 

 by no means so familiarly 

 known as the great majority 

 of the feathered tribes ; and 

 in all probability there are 

 but few persons, with the 

 exception of sportsmen, who 

 have seen a Woodcock, save 

 when exposed for sale at the 

 poulterer's, or preserved in 

 the cases of a museum. 



It is one of our winter 

 migratory birds, usually ar- 

 riving on our coasts in Oc- 

 tober and leaving again in 

 March, although the young 

 are constantly found in different parts of England, and 



