Family CHARADRIID.'E. Genus Scolopax. 



Subfamily Scolopacin/e. 



WOODCOCK. 



SCOLOPAX RUSTICOLA— Z2«»«z«. 



Geographical Distribution. — British .■ Local resident, but 

 most abundant during winter, and on spring and autumn migration, 

 especially the latter. Breeds sparingly throughout the British 

 Islands (including the Shetlands), except perhaps on the Orkneys 

 and Hebrides and other similar districts where suitable cover is 

 wanting. It has, however, been recorded as having bred on 

 the Long Island. Foreign : Patearctic region ; Oriental region 

 in winter. Breeds in the forest districts of Scandinavia as far 

 north as the Arctic Circle, in West Russia up to about lat. 65", 

 and in East Russia and Siberia not much beyond lat. 60°. 

 Southwards it breeds as low as the Azores, the Canaries, and 

 Madeira, and at considerable elevations in the Alps, the Car- 

 pathians, the Balkans, and the Caucasus. Its southern breeding 

 range in Asia reaches the Himalayas at an elevation of ten 

 thousand feet, the mountains of the Baikal district, Mongolia, 

 and the mountains of Japan. In the southern portion of its 

 breeding area it is probably a resident, but the birds breeding in 

 the north pass southwards to the basin of the Mediterranean, 

 Persia, India (occasionally straying to Ceylon), Burma, and 

 China for the cold season. It has occurred on the Faroes, and 

 is an accidental wanderer to the Azores, Newfoundland, New 

 Jersey, and Virginia. 



Allied Forms. — Scolopax minor, an inhabitant of North 

 America from about lat. 50° in the north to Texas in the south, 

 and as far west as the Rocky Mountains. Resident in the south, 

 but migratory in the north of this area. Distinguished by its 



