﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  297 
  

  

  Philohela 
  minor 
  (Gmelin) 
  

   American 
  Woodcock 
  

  

  Plate 
  31 
  

  

  Scolopax 
  minor 
  Gmelin. 
  Syst. 
  Nat. 
  1788. 
  Ed. 
  i. 
  2:661 
  

   Rusticola 
  minor 
  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  257, 
  fig. 
  231 
  

   Philohela 
  minor 
  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  228 
  

  

  pJiilo'liela, 
  Gr. 
  <^tAos, 
  loving 
  and 
  e'Aos, 
  bog; 
  minor, 
  Lat., 
  smaller, 
  i.e. 
  

   than 
  the 
  European 
  woodcock 
  

  

  Description. 
  Head 
  large; 
  neck 
  short; 
  eyes 
  large, 
  set 
  far 
  back 
  and 
  

   high; 
  bill 
  very 
  long, 
  compressed, 
  the 
  upper 
  mandible 
  longer 
  and 
  the 
  lower 
  

   mandible 
  fitted 
  into 
  it 
  at 
  the 
  tip, 
  its 
  terminal 
  portion 
  corrugated, 
  pitted, 
  

   sensitive 
  and 
  voluntarily 
  flexible 
  and 
  fingerlike; 
  wings 
  short 
  and 
  rounded, 
  

   the 
  first 
  three 
  primaries 
  short, 
  narrow 
  and 
  somewhat 
  falciform; 
  legs 
  short, 
  

   stout, 
  feathered 
  to 
  the 
  heel 
  joint; 
  toes 
  entirely 
  free; 
  tail 
  of 
  12 
  feathers; 
  

   general 
  build 
  full 
  and 
  stocky. 
  Upper 
  parts 
  intricately 
  mottled 
  and 
  barred 
  

   with 
  rufous, 
  buffy 
  and 
  black; 
  the 
  feathers 
  edged 
  with 
  pale 
  ash^^ 
  forming 
  

   four 
  broad 
  stripes 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  and 
  scapulars; 
  front 
  of 
  head 
  and 
  sides 
  of 
  

   neck 
  ashy 
  washed 
  with 
  rufous; 
  occiput 
  black 
  with 
  three 
  transverse 
  bands 
  

   of 
  buff)*; 
  irregular 
  line 
  from' 
  bill 
  to 
  eye 
  and 
  another 
  below 
  the 
  eye 
  on 
  sides 
  

   of 
  neck, 
  black; 
  eyelids 
  buffy; 
  tmder 
  parts 
  pale 
  rufous, 
  brighter 
  on 
  sides 
  and 
  

   under 
  wing 
  coverts 
  ; 
  flight 
  feathers 
  ashy 
  brown 
  ; 
  tail 
  feathers 
  blackish 
  tipped 
  

   with 
  ashy 
  and 
  their 
  under 
  surfaces 
  with 
  silvery 
  white; 
  under 
  tail 
  coverts 
  

   also 
  with 
  white 
  tips 
  ; 
  bill 
  light 
  brown, 
  pale 
  at 
  base 
  ; 
  legs 
  pale 
  reddish 
  or 
  flesh 
  

   color; 
  iris 
  brown. 
  

  

  Length 
  J* 
  lo-ii, 
  9 
  11-12 
  inches; 
  extent 
  17-19; 
  wing 
  4.75-5.75; 
  tail 
  

   2.2—2.5; 
  bill 
  2.5-2.75; 
  tarsus 
  1.2-1.4; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  1.5; 
  weight, 
  

   males 
  5-6 
  ounces; 
  females 
  6-8 
  ounces, 
  extra 
  fat 
  ones 
  rarely 
  9 
  ounces. 
  

  

  Distribution. 
  The 
  Woodcock 
  inhabits 
  the 
  eastern 
  United 
  States 
  and 
  

   Canada, 
  north 
  to 
  Manitoba 
  and 
  southern 
  Labrador, 
  and 
  westward 
  to 
  the 
  

   plains, 
  wintering 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  half 
  of 
  its 
  range. 
  In 
  New 
  York 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  

   summer 
  resident, 
  and 
  formerly 
  nested 
  commonly 
  in 
  every 
  county 
  of 
  the 
  

   State, 
  but 
  is 
  now 
  fast 
  disappearing 
  from 
  the 
  more 
  inhabited 
  districts 
  on 
  

   account 
  of 
  the 
  incessant 
  slaughter 
  by 
  gunners 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  season, 
  and 
  by 
  

   telegraph 
  wires 
  at 
  all 
  seasons, 
  the 
  killing 
  of 
  its 
  young 
  by 
  cats 
  and 
  other 
  

   predatory 
  animals, 
  the 
  draining 
  of 
  swamps, 
  and 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  its 
  

   favorite 
  coverts. 
  I 
  have 
  talked 
  with 
  gunners 
  in 
  western 
  New 
  York 
  who 
  

   killed 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  180 
  brace 
  of 
  woodcock 
  in 
  one 
  season 
  25 
  years 
  ago, 
  but 
  

  

  