468 BIRDS—SCOLOPACIDA. 
migrant on Lake Michigan. It appears to be more exclusively maritime 
than other species of this family. 
The eggs of the Red Phalarope cannot with certainty be distinguished 
from those of the last species. 
HAMIEY SiC OO 274 Ci D As.) aS Nit Rae air 
Legs moderate. Tarsus shorter than tail, scutellate. Hind tos present (except in 
Calidris). Bill long, equalling, or often exceeding, frequently several times longer than 
the head, softish and membranous to the very tip, without constriction in its continuity ; 
straight or variously curved. 
GENUS PHILOHELA. Gray. 
Wing short; first three primaries attenuate; tail feathers 12; tibie feathered to the 
joint; tarsi shorter than the middle toe; toes slender, unwebbed ; bill much longer than 
the head, stout and deep at base, grooved nearly the whole length, the tip knebbed; 
gape very short and narrow; ear under the eye, which is set in the upper back corner 
of the head. 
PHILOHELA MINOR (Gm.) Gr. 
American WVoodcock. 
Scolopax minor, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Sury., 1838, 165. 
Philohela minor, WHEATON, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1860, 368; Reprint, 1261, 10; Food of 
Birds, etc , Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 572; Reprint, 1875, 12.—Lanapon, Cat. Birds 
of Cin., 1877, 14; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 182; Reprint, 16; 
Summer Birds, ib., iii, 1880, 226. 
Woodcock, CHUBB, Forest and Stream, xiv., 1880, 307. - 
Scolopax minor, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 661. 
Philohela minor, GRAY, Gen. of Birds, 1849. 
Above variegated and harmoniously blended black, brown, gray and russet; below 
pale warm brown of variableshade. Length, male, 10-11; female, 11-12; extent, 16-18; 
wing, 44-5; bill, 24-3; tarsus, 11; middle toe and claw, 14; weight, 5-9 ounces. 
Habitat, Eastern United States and British Provinces. North to Nova Scotia and 
Canada. Northwest to Fort Rice, Dakota. West to Kansas and Nebraska. 
Very common summer resident from March to October. Breeds. 
The Woodcock, one of the most, if not the most highly esteemed of our 
game birds, may be found at almost any season of the year when the 
ground is not frozen. I have seen them the first of March, when the 
ground was covered with snow, turning over the wet leaves in high wood- 
lands. Also in the latter part of November when the ground was frozen 
hard except about boggy springs, where they lingered probing the moist 
earth for insects. On their arrival in spring they appear to be already 
mated. Mr. Chubb has seen the young at Cleveland on April 9. Some, 
however, are not hatched until the middle of May. 
