BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 337 
season. It feeds in low, swampy woodland, boring in the 
mud for worms, and also in low pastures, where it destroys 
many insects. In late summer it often goes to the uplands, 
where it feeds in cornfields, asparagus fields, fruit gardens, 
-and pastures. At such times the bird may be seen among 
the currant bushes or vegetables, where in early morning it 
feeds with the Robins. When suddenly fiushed it sometimes 
rises with a tremulous whistling sound, similar to that made 
by the wings of the Mourning Dove. Although in summer 
it frequents fields, gardens, and pastures, it sometimes for- 
sakes them in very dry weather for the wooded ‘shores of 
ponds or rivers. The Woodcock evidently feeds much at 
night or during the dusk of morning and evening, when 
it is almost always active. When startled in the daytime 
it is normally sluggish, and rises just over the tops of the 
bushes or undergrowth, flutters a short distance, and alights ; 
but late in the fall a strong bird that has been hunted and 
shot at will start up like a flash and fly wild high and far, 
sometimes fanning the air so rapidly with its wings that they 
appear as a mere nebulous haze, like those of the Humming- 
bird in flight. Its curious flight song is uttered in the 
breeding season, when it rises high in the dusk of evening, 
sending back a series of twittering and whistling sounds. 
The Woodcock is hunted throughout its range. As it 
grows rarer in the north, gunners and sportsmen follow it 
south in winter. Great numbers of Woodcock are slaugh- 
tered there when all the birds of the species are massed 
in a limited area. 
Wilson’s Snipe. 
Gallinago delicata. 
Length. — Ten and one-half to eleven and one-half inches; bill about two and 
one-half inches. 
Adult. — Upper parts brownish-black, varied with bay and tawny; crown black, 
with a light central stripe; upper tail coverts tawny, with dark bars; tail 
feathers above bright chestnut, with a black bar near the tip, which is 
whitish ; beneath, white, but breast and sides tinted with brown, speckled 
and barred with dusky. : 
Season. — Spring and fall. 
The Snipe is a not uncommon migrant, and may be found 
in favorable localities in late March and April, and again in 
