THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
probably also, to some extent at least, of smell ; its structure will be 
further alluded to under the heading “ Food.” 
(2) The position of the large eye, which is situated so far back in the 
head, that to enable the bird to see in front of it, it is obliged to fly with 
the bill pointing more or less downwards. In daylight the powers of vision 
are probably less keen than they are at night, for woodcock, suddenly 
startled, have been known to fly against trees and such-like obstacles, and 
to stun or even kill themselves. 
(3) The remarkable position of the ear, which is situated beneath the 
eye, and near the anterior corner of it. In the opinion of Mr W. P. Pycraft 
the unusual position of the ear in the Scolopacidcs is due to a shortening 
of the base of the skull, which has had the effect of drawing downwards 
and forwards the hinder portion of the skull, and with it the aperture of 
the ear. (“Ibis,” 1908, pp. 551-558). 
Variations in plumage . — Variations in plumage among woodcocks are by 
no means uncommon. White or partially white birds are not infrequently 
met with, also smoky -brown (like the dark variety of the snipe known 
as Sabine’s snipe), pale buff, cream-coloured or light ash-coloured in- 
dividuals with the dark markings present, but much paler than in the nor- 
mally coloured woodcock. A very handsome bird in the Natural History 
Museum has the ground-colour of the wings, back and tail-feathers silvery - 
grey, barred with pale rufous and black, and the primary quills white. 
Birds with a great deal of black in the plumage also occur; in fact, the range 
of variation to be found is very great indeed. 
In the Azores the writer obtained a nearly white specimen under rather 
curious circumstances. While waiting at night to get a shot at a large 
owl, which frequented the neighbourhood of our camp on the island of 
San Jorge, a white object was seen moving on the ground, and at the first 
glance mistaken for a piece of paper blown along by the wind. It proved, 
however, to be a fine variety of the woodcock engaged in making its 
evening meal, and its skin is now preserved in Mr Walter Rothschild’s 
splendid collection at Tring. 
General distribution . — ^The woodcock is peculiar to the north-eastern 
hemisphere, and is widely distributed over Europe and the greater part 
of Asia, ranging southwards in winter to North Africa, while in the higher 
wooded parts of the Azores, Madeira, and the Canaries it is resident. 
In the Faeroes it has once been obtained; while in Newfoundland, and on the 
Atlantic shores of the United States it occurs as an accidental straggler. 
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