276 



obtained by him near Tangier, in December, 1858. Mr. Drake 

 also refers to this Phalarope as having been shot near Tangier 

 during the month of January ; and others have since occurred. 



On the Spanish side one was killed on 29th of November, 

 1872, others on the 4th of December, 1875, and they occur 

 irregularly, as in England, sometimes in numbers. 



These birds never appear to go on the land except to nest, and 

 are always seen swimming, often far at sea. 



Front toes as in next species lobed, like a Coot. 

 Bill short and wide ; tail graduated. 

 In summer. Below chestnut. 



In winter. Forehead and crown white ; grey nape, white wing-bar f 

 below white. Length 8 inches. 



300. Scolopax rusticula, Linnaeus. The Woodcock. 



Moorish. Hejel el himar (red partridge), Khadim el ajel (the 

 servant of haste), Bou-monkar (Father of the bill), applied to all 

 long-billed birds. Andalucian. Gallineta. Spanish. Chocha. 



The Woodcock, according to Favier, is " not abundant around 

 Tangier, arriving during November and departing in March." 



Uncertain, both in numbers and as to time of arrival near 

 Gibraltar, in some seasons Woodcocks are tolerably plentiful, as 

 in 1873 ; in others, as in the winter of 1871-72, they are very 

 scarce. Five or six couple in the day for two guns is a very fair 

 bag ; but there was an instance of a Spanish cazador bagging 

 twenty-one in a day near Algeciraz ; those who wish for good 

 Woodcock - shooting had better not try either Andalucia or 

 Morocco, but go to the east of the Mediterranean. 



My earliest note of the arrival of a Woodcock about Gibraltar 

 was on the 17th of October, but very few arrive until the middle 

 of November. The latest noticed was on the 8th of March ; but 

 I have seen them in Seville market on the 22nd of that month. 

 I obtained near that city a fine white variety, which is now in 

 the Norwich Museum. 



Second-hand information is not always trustworthy, but the 



