22 THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 



Adult Male. 



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 dorsal line straight, the ridge narrow, towards the 

 end flattened, the sides nearly erect, sloping outward towards the soft obtuse 

 edges, the tip blunt, knob-like, and longer than that of the lower mandible. 

 Nostrils basal, lateral, linear, very small. Lower mandible broader than the 

 upper, the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line straight, the back 

 broadly rounded, the sides marked with a broad groove, sloping inwards at 

 the base, outwards towards the end, the edges soft and obtuse, the tip 

 rounded. 



Head rather large, oblong, narrowed anteriorly; eyes large, and placed 

 high. Neck short and thick. Body rather full. Feet rather short; tibia 

 feathered to the joint; tarsus rather short, compressed, anteriorly covered 

 with numerous scutella, laterally and behind with sub-hexagonal scales, and 

 having a row of small scutelliform scales along the outer side behind. Toes 

 free, slender, the first very small, the second slightly shorter than the fourth, 

 the third much longer and exceeding the tarsus in length; all scutellate above, 

 marginate, flattish beneath. Claws very small, arched, acute, that of hind 

 toe extremely small, of middle toe with a thin inner edge. 



Plumage very soft, elastic, blended; of the fore part of the head very 

 short, of the neck full. Wings short, rounded; the fourth and fifth quills 

 about equal and longest, the first three extraordinarily attenuated, being in 

 fact sub-linear, narrower be}?ond the middle, the inner web slightly enlarged 

 towards the end, the first as long as the seventh; secondaries broad, the outer 

 a little incurved and rounded, the inner tapering and elongated. Tail very 

 short, wedge-shaped, of twelve narrow feathers, which taper towards the 

 rounded point. 



Bill light yellowish-brown, dusky towards the end. Iris brown. Feet 

 flesh-coloured; claws brownish-black. The forehead is yellowish-grey, with 

 a few dark mottlings in the centre; on the upper part of the head are two 

 broad blackish-brown transverse bands, and on the occiput two narrower, 

 separated by bands of light red; a brownish-black loral band, and a narrow 

 irregular line of the same across the cheek and continued to the occiput. 

 The upper parts are variegated with brownish-black, light yellowish-red, and 

 ash-grey; there are three broad longitudinal bands of the first colour, barred 

 with the second, down the back, separated by two of the last. The inner 

 wing-coverts and secondary quills are similarly barred; the outer pale grey- 

 ish-red, faintly barred with dusky. The quills are greyish-brown, tipped 

 with dull grey, the secondaries spotted on the outer web with dull red. 

 Upper tail-coverts barred; tail-feathers brownish-black, their tips grey, their 



