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Genus VlL— MICRO PTERA, Mitt. WOODCOCK OR BOGSUCKER. 
Bill double the length of the head, straight, slender, tapering, sub-trigonal, 
and deeper than broad at the base, slightly depressed towardsthe end ; upper 
mandible with the ridge narrow, towards the end flattened, the sides with 
a narrow groove cxtend-ing 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 t 
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 BOGSUCR^. 
MlCROPTERA AMERICANA, Aud. 
PLATE CCCLII. — 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 
