SNIPES 





(228) Philohela minor 



{Gmel.) (Gr., loving, a bog; Lat., smaller), 

 WOODCOCK, Bill very long, 

 soft and flexible at the tip. Ears 

 beneath the very large eyes, which 

 are set near the upper corner of the 

 head. Plumage as shown, much 

 mottled with black, grays, brOTiTis, 

 and buffy. Downy young hand- 

 somely marbled with black, brown 

 and buff. L,, ii.oo; W,, 5.00; Tar., 

 1.25; B,, 2.90. Nest — A hollow in 

 the leaves on the ground, in woods; 

 four buff eggs, spotted with yellowish- 

 brown, 1.50 X 1. 15, 



Range — Breeds from N, S, and 

 Man. south to Fla. and Kans. Win- 

 ters in southeastern U. S. 



(227) EUROPEAN WOODCOCK 

 (Scolopax rusticola) Linn. Casual 

 from N. B. to Va. 



their long legs, accounts for their poor ability as aquatic 

 birds. 



Family SCOLOPACIDyE. Snipes, Sandpipers, etc. 



WOODCOCK are birds that will well repay one to study. 

 I know of no one bird that is of greater interest. They are 

 borers and consequently must have soft soil to work in. 

 Northern birds go just far enough south in winter to keep 

 below the frost line and, in spring, return to their summer 

 haunts just as soon as the condition of the ground will allow. 

 If they come too early, they have to probe among the leaves 

 and feed upon larvae until warmer temperatures lure the 

 worms upon which they usually live, nearer the surface. 



Woodcock toes are long to support him on the oozy banks 

 of streams; his legs are short so he can easily reach the 

 ground; his bill is long so he can probe deeply; its end is 

 sensitive, flexible and under his control so that, having 

 discovered a worm, he can open the tip of the bill and capture 

 it, though the biU is buried even up to his head; his eyes are 



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