KEY TO THE WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 293 
Famity SCOLOPACIDE. SwNIpes, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 
Genus PHILOHELA Gray. 
PHILOHELA MINOR (Gwe/.). 
American Woodcock. 
Adult: Bill long, corrugated near the end; upper parts variegated with tawny rufous brown 
and black; head rufous brown, banded on the occiput with alternate bands of black and tawny 
brown ; a line of black from the eye to the bill; a narrow patch on the sides of the lower head, 
blackish; throat pale rufous or rufous white; under parts of the body pale rufous; quills 
brownish; tail feathers dusky tipped with ash; bill pale brown, yellowish at the base; legs red- 
dish; bill light brown; paler and yellowish at base. 
Length, 11.50; Wing, 5.45; Tarsus, 1.30; Bill, 2.90 to 3.05. 
Common on the Atlantic coast from Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico, 
breeding, as a rule, north of the Carolinas. It is occasionally observed in 
Florida in winter and is very abundant in the swamps of Alabama and 
Louisiana at some seasons. The eggs are usually four, mottled and spotted 
with brown. 
Genus GALLINAGO Leacu. 
GALLINAGO DELICATA (Ord), 
Wilson’s Snipe. English Snipe. 
Bill long and straight, being slightly enlarged near the tip and showing numerous small pits ; 
no web on toes ; general upper parts dark brown, tawny brown, pale yellow, dull white; top of 
the head black with middle stripe of tawny brown; outer web of first primary white; greater 
