WOODCOCK— GREENSHANK 107 



upper mandible being used much as a finger when 

 probing in the mud for worms and larvae. 



The European Woodcock is occasionally seen on 

 our shores as a straggler. In both countries the flesh 

 of this bird is so highly esteemed for the table that it is 

 in danger of extermination. It breeds chiefly in the 

 higher latitudes, laying its eggs upon the ground in 

 the woods, in nests of leaves. See Plate 31, Fig. 177. 



A curious anatomical character in the Woodcock is 

 the position of the ear opening, which is in front of and 

 beneath the level of the eye. In the Snipe it lies 

 underneath the eye, while in all other birds it is found 

 behind the eye. The eyes of this bird are large, dark 

 brown in colour and set far at the back of the head and 

 close to the top. 



The Woodcock is nocturnal in habits, starting for 

 its feeding-grounds in the early evening. It makes 

 remarkable spiral flights high up into the air, during 

 which the wind rushes through the stiff outer primaries 

 with a whistling or bleating sound. 



The species now to be described differ conspicuously 

 from the Snipes and Woodcocks in that they have two 

 distinct plumages during the year — a sober-coloured 

 dress for autumn and winter and a more richly col- 

 oured one for spring and summer. The latter being- 

 assumed just before the nesting season, is known as 

 the breeding dress. 



This difference is not very strikingly marked in the 

 Greenshank, a somewhat common European bird, so 

 called from the colour of its legs. It is rather large, 

 measuring about fourteen inches in length, and has a 

 slightly upturned bill. In summer the upper parts 



