15 



Gents VII.— MICROPTERA, Nutt. WOODCOCK OR BOGSUCKER. 



Bill double the length of the head, straight, slender, tapering, sub-trigonal, 

 and deeper than broad at the base, slightly depressed towards the end; upper 

 mandible with the ridge narrow, towards the end flattened, the sides with 

 a narrow groove extending to near the tip, the tip blunt, knob-like, and 

 longer than that of the lower. Head rather large, oblong; eyes large, and 

 placed high; neck short; body full. Feet rather short; tibia feathered to 

 the joint; tarsus rather short, compressed, scutellate; first toe very small, the 

 third much longer than the tarsus. Claws very small, arched, acute. Wings 

 short, rounded, the fourth and fifth quills longest, the first three extraordi- 

 narily attenuated. Tail very short, cuneate, of twelve feathers. 



THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK, OR BOGSUCKER. 



1-MlCROPTERA AMERICANA, Jlud. 



PLATE CCCLIL— Male, Female, and Young. 



There is a kind of innocent simplicity in our Woodcock, which has often 

 excited in me a deep feeling of anxiety, when I witnessed the rude and un- 

 merciful attempts of mischievous boys, on meeting a mother bird in vain 

 attempting to preserve her dear brood from their savage grasp. She scarcely 

 limps, nor does she often flutter along the ground, on such occasions; but 

 with half extended wings, inclining her head to one side, and uttering a soft 

 murmur, she moves to and fro, urging her young to hasten towards some 

 secure spot beyond the reach of their enemies. Regardless of her own 

 danger, she would to all appearance gladly suffer herself to be seized, could 

 she be assured that by such a sacrifice she might ensure the safety of her 

 brood. On an occasion of this kind, I saw a female Woodcock lay herself 



