328 
WOODCOCK. 
is not mentioned as a bird of Hudson's Bay ; and being altogether un- 
known in the northern parts of Europe, it is very probable that its 
migrations do not extend to a very high latitude ; for it may be laid 
down as a general rule, that those birds which migrate to the arctic 
regions in cither continent, are very often common to both. The head 
of the Woodcock is of singular conformation, large, somewhat triangular, 
and the eye fixed at a remarkable distance from the bill, and high in the 
head. This construction was necessary to give a greater range of vision, 
and to secure the eye from injury while the owner is searching in the 
mire. The flight of the Woodcock is slow. When flushed at any time 
in the woods, he rises to the height of the bushes or underwood, and 
almost instantly drops behind them again at a short distance, generally 
running off for several yards as soon as he touches the ground. The 
notion that there are two species of Woodcock in this country probably 
originated from the great difference of size between the male and female, 
the latter being considerably the larger. 
The male Woodcock is ten inches and a half long, and sixteen inches 
in extent ; bill a brownish flesh color, black towards the tip, the upper 
mandible ending in a slight knob, that projects about one-tenth of an 
inch beyond the lower,* each grooved, and in length somewhat more 
than two inches and a half; forehead, line over the eye, and whole lower 
parts, reddish tawny ; sides of the neck inclining to ash ; between the 
eye and bill a slight streak of dark brown ; crown, from the forepart of 
the eye backwards, black, crossed by three narrow bands of brownish 
white ; cheeks marked with a bar of black, variegated with light brown ; 
edges of the back, and of the scapulars, pale bluish white ; back and 
scapulars deep black, each feather tipped or marbled Avith light brown 
and bright ferruginous, with numerous fine zigzag lines of black crossing 
the lighter parts ; quills plain dusky brown ; tail black, each feather 
marked along the outer edge with small spots of pale brown, and ending 
in narrow tips of a pale drab color above, and silvery white below ; 
lining of the wing bright rust ; legs and feet a pale reddish flesh color ; 
eye very full and black, seated high, and very far back in the head ; 
weight five ounces and a half, sometimes six. 
The female is twelve inches long, and eighteen in extent ; weighs 
eight ounces ; and differs also in having the bill very near three inches 
in length ; the black on the back is not quite so intense ; and the sides 
under the wings are slightly barred with dusky. 
The young Woodcocks, of a week or ten days old, are covered with 
* Mr. Pennant (Arct. Zool. p. 463), in describing the American Woodcock, says, 
that the lower mandible is much shorter than the upper. From the appearance of 
his figure, it is evident that the specimen from which that and his description were 
taken, had lost nearly half an inch from the lower mandible, probably broken off 
by accident. Turton and others have repeated this mistake. 
