WOODCOCK. 429 
Woodeock in this country, probably originated from the great differ- 
ence of size betwéen the male and female, the latter being considera- 
bly the larger. : : 
The male Woodcock is ten inches and a half long, and sixteen 
inches in extent; bill, a brownish flesh color, black towards the tip, 
the upper mandible ending in a slight knob, that projects about one 
tenth of an inch beyond the lower,* each grooved, and, in length, 
somewhat more than tivo inches and a half; forehead, line over the 
eye, and whole lower parts, reddish tawny ; sides of the neck, melin- 
ing to ash; between the eye and Dill, a slight streak of dark brown; 
crown, from the forepart of the eye backwards, black, crossed by three 
narrow bands of brownish white; cheeks, marked with a bar of black, 
variegated with light brown; edges of the back, and of the scapulars, 
pale bluish white ; back and scapulars, deep black, each feather tipped 
or marbled with light brown and bright ferruginous, with numer- 
ous fine ‘zigzag lines of black crossing the lighter parts; quills, plain 
dusky brown; tail, black, each feather marked along the outer edge 
with smal] spots of pale brown, and ending in narrow tips, of a pale 
drab color above, and silvery white below; lining of the wing, bright 
rust; legs and feet, a pale reddish flesh color; eye, very full and 
' black, seated high and very fur back in the head; weight, five ounces 
and a half, sometimes six. : 
The female is twelve inches long, and eighteen in extent; weighs 
eight ounces ; and differs also in having the bill very near three inches ' 
in length: the black on the back is not quite so intense; and the 
sides under the wings are slightly barred with dusky. 
The young Woodcocks of a week or ten days old are covered with 
down of’ a brownish white color, and are marked from the bill along 
the crown to the hind head, with a broad stripe of deep brown ; another 
line of the same passes through the eyes to the hind head, curving 
under the eye; from the back to the rudiments of the tail, runs another 
of the same tint, and also on the sides under the wings ; the throat 
and breast are considerably tinged with rufous; and the quills at this 
age are just bursting from their light blue sheaths, and appear mar- 
bled, as in the old birds; the legs and bill are of a pale purplish ash 
color, the latter about an inch long. When taken, they utter a long, 
clear, but feeble peep, not louder than that of a mouse. They are far 
inferior to young Partridges in running and skulking ; and, should the 
female unfortunately be killed, may easily be taken on the spot. 
* Mr. Pennant, (Arctic Zoology, p. 463,) in describing the American Wood- 
cock, says, that the lower-mandible is much shorter than the upper. From the ap- 
pearance of his figure, it is evident that the specimen from which that’ and his de- 
_seription were taken, had lost nearly half an inch from the lower mandible, proba- 
bly broken off by accident. Turton and others have repeated the mistake. 
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