SNIPE, SANDPIPERS, ETC 



{Family Scolopacida) 



Woodcock 



(Philohela minor) 



Called also: BLIND, WALL-EYED, MUD, BIG HEADED, 

 WOOD, and WHISTLING SNIPE; BOG-SUCKER; 

 NIGHT PECK; BOG BIRD; TIMBER DOODLE; NIGHT 

 "PARTRIDGE"; PEWEE. 



(Illustration facing p. i6o) 



Length — lo to II inches; Female ii to 12 inches. 



Male and Female — Upper parts varied with gray, brown, black, 

 and buff; an indistinct black line on front of head, another 

 running from bill to eye; back of head black with three buff 

 bars. Under parts reddish buff brown. Eyes large and 

 placed in upper corner of triangular head. Bill long, 

 straight, stout. Short, thick neck and compact, rounded 

 body; wings and legs short. 



Range — Eastern North America, from the British Provinces to the 

 Gulf, nesting nearly throughout its range ; winters south of 

 Virginia and southern Illinois. 



Season — Resident all but the coldest months ; a few winter. 



The borings of the woodcock in bogs, wet woodlands, and 

 fields — little groups of clean cut holes made by the bird's bill in 

 the soft earth — give the surest clue to the presence of this 

 luscious game bird, that has been tracked by sportsmen and 

 pot hunters alike, from Labrador to the Gulf, by means of these 

 tell-tale marks until the day cannot be far distant when there 

 will be no woodcock left to shoot. Since earthworms are the 

 bird's staple diet, these must be probed for and felt after through 

 the moist earth. Down goes the woodcock's bill, sunk to the 

 nostril; the upper half, being flexible at the tip, draws the worm 

 forth as one might raise a string through the neck of a jar with 

 one's finger. Curiously, the tip of the upper mandible works 



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