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THE WOODCOCK. 
THE WOODCOCK. ( Rusticola minor.') 
The American Woodcock, like the snipe, appears again 
to be a near representative of that of Europe, whose man- 
ners and habits it almost entirely possesses, differing, how- 
ever, materially in the temperature of the climates selected 
for its residence, confining itself in the summer to the south 
side of the St. Lawrence, breeding in all the intermediate 
space as far as the limits of the Middle States, and retiring 
in winter, for the most part, either to or beyond the 
boundary of the Union. 
The European species, on the contrary, courting cooler 
climates, winters in Great Britain and the north of Europe, 
and retires as early as March, to breed in the Alps or in 
the frigid wilds of Sweden, Norway, Russia, and penetrates 
even to the icy shores of Greenland, and the heaths of Ice- 
land. About the same period, early in March, the Ameri- 
can Woodcock revisits Pennsylvania, and soon after the 
New England or Eastern States. Indeed, so sedentary is 
the species at times, that a few are known to winter in the 
sheltered forests and open watery glades of Pennsylvania ; 
at the same season also, many are seen in the vicinity of 
Natchez, in Mississippi. 
According to their usual habits, they keep secluded in 
the woods and thickets, till the approach of evening, when 
they sally forth to seek out springs, paths, and broken soil, 
in quest of worms and other insects, on which they feed. 
