4^ WOODCOCK SNIPE. Class II. 



inches long, dusky towards the end, reddish at 

 the base ; the tongue slender, long, sharp, and 

 hard at the point ; the eyes large, and placed 

 near the top of the head, that they may not be 

 injured when the bird thrusts its bill into the 

 ground : from the bill to the eyes is a black 

 line; the forehead is of a reddish ash-color; 

 the crown of the head, the hind part of the 

 neck, the back, the coverts of the wings, and 

 the scapulars, are prettily barred with a fer- 

 ruginous red, black and grey; but on the 

 head the black predominates ; the quil feathers 

 are dusky, indented with red marks. The 

 chin is of a pale yellow; the whole under- 

 side of the body is of a dirty white, marked 

 with numerous transverse lines of a dusky color. 

 The tail consists of twelve feathers, dusky, or 

 black on the one web, and marked with red on 

 the other ; the tips above are ash-colored, below- 

 white ; which, when shooting on the ground was 

 in vogue, \\as the sign by which the fowler dis- 

 covered the birds. The legs and toes are livid ; 

 the latter divided almost to their origin, hav- 

 ing only a very small web between the mid- 

 dle and interior toes, as are those of the two 

 species of snipes found in England. 



