170 SCOLOPACIDiE. 



wings. There are also minor differences, wliich will be 

 better understood by a description of the general plumage. 

 The occiput has three bands of black alternated with 

 three of pale yellowish-red, the upper part of the body 

 being variegated with pale ash or reddish-yellow of 

 different shades, and with lines of black. The throat is 

 ash colour, and a line of very deep brown extends from 

 the eye to the bill, with another of the same colour on 

 the neck. The wings are ashy-brown, and the tail a 

 very dark brown, almost approaching to black; this is 

 tipped with ash colour, darker on the ujjper surface than 

 on the under, where, in fact, it is often nearly white. 

 The bm is a light brown, and the legs a pale reddish 

 colour. 



As to the theory of the transatlantic migration, it is 

 well known that the Woodcock never takes very long 

 flights, which indeed the disproportionately small size 

 of its wings would seem to render laborious, if not 

 altogether impossible, and the only foundation for 

 attributing to it such a feat rests on the fact that a great 

 abundance of Woodcock is found on the west coast of 

 Ireland, where it was not unnaturally supposed birds from 

 America would alight. That they do exist there in 

 larger numbers than in most other parts of the British 

 Isles I can testify from experience, having killed them 

 in extraordinary quantities in several localities when on 



