22 
THE AMEKICAN 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 beyond 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 
