THE WOODCOCK 



I HE woodcock is one of our finest game- 

 birds. When flushed, it rises in a hurried 

 manner to the tops of the bushes or 

 glides through the underbrush for a few rods, drops 

 instantly and, upon touching the ground, runs for a 

 short distance and hides. This bird is often con- 

 founded with Wilson's snipe. The error is easily- 

 avoided, however, by remembering that the wings and 

 the lower parts of the woodcock are of a reddish- 

 brown color, while the wings of the snipe are barred 

 with black and white, its throat and breast speckled, 

 and its abdomen white. 



The woodcock arrives in the latitude of New York, 

 on its northern migration, about the second week in 



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