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TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



Family 3: Snipes, etc. (Scolopacidse). 



The Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola). 



(Length 12 inches.) 



The woodcock lives on the ground in woods. The plumage so 

 closely approximates to the colour of the soil that the bird, when 

 squatting among dry leaves next to a piece of bark or a projecting root, 

 cannot be discerned even by the experienced eye of the sportsman. 

 Places like this the bird accordingly selects to rest in. The nest, 

 which is devoid of workmanship, is placed among dry leaves on the 

 ground (young " precocious "), and the eggs display the same protective 

 colouring (pale earth-coloured, with reddish and brownish spots). On 

 the ground, too, the bird finds its food, which consists of slugs, earth- 



~/%J(ul/.)3 



Woodcock. (About one-sixth natural size.) 



worms, insects and their larvae. With the first melting of the winter 

 snow the woodcock return from their winter quarters (why are they 

 migratory birds?), to enjoy the feast which reawakening Nature so richly 

 spreads for them. In Germany, the third Sunday in Lent — " Oculi " 

 Sunday— is said by sportsmen to mark the arrival of the woodcock, as 

 expressed in the rhyme, "Oculi — da kommen sie " ("Oculi — there they 

 come ") ; only a few, however, remain, the majority " travelling " farther 

 on to the Northern countries of Europe (passage of the woodcock). 

 With the approach of dusk the bird emerges from its hiding-place, for 

 the woodcock is a nocturnal bird (colour, compare with owls), and rum- 

 mages among the foliage, feeling for food with its long beak. It uses 



