I observed this species in April, on my voyage to the Florida Keys,
in flocks of from ten to fifteen, congregated as if for the purpose
of returning to the northern regions, where it is said to breed in
groups. Mr SELBY, in treating of this bird, says “It breeds upon
several of the Orkney and Shetland Isles, and is gregarious during
that period; and the situations selected for nidification are the
unfrequented heaths at some distance from the shores. The nest is
composed of dry grass and mosses, and its two eggs are of a dark
oil-green, with irregular blotches of liver-brown. At this season
the bird is very courageous, and, like the Common Skua, attacks every
intruder upon the limits of its territory, by pouncing and striking
at the head with its bill and wings. It also occasionally endeavours
to divert attention by feigning accidental lameness.” Having received
eggs of this bird from individuals who had collected them, I may add
that they are broadly rounded at the larger end, rather pointed at
the smaller, have a smooth shell, and average two inches four-twelfths
in length, by one inch and four and a half eighths in breadth.
M. TEMMINCK, in his Manuel d’Ornithologie, describes the young when
about to leave the nest as follows: “Top of the head of a deep grey;
sides and upper part of the neck of a light grey, sprinkled with
longitudinal brown spots; a black spot before the eyes; lower part of
the neck, back, scapulars, small and large wing-coverts, umber-brown,
each feather bordered with yellowish-brown, and often with reddish;
lower parts irregularly variegated with deep brown and yellowish-brown
on a whitish ground; tail-coverts and abdomen transversely barred;
quills of the wings and tail blackish, white at their base and on the
inner barbs, all terminated with white; the two outer shafts white;
tail only rounded; base of the bill yellowish-green, black towards
the point; tarsi bluish-grey; base of the toes and membranes white,
the rest black, hind claw often white.”
In middle age, he says, “all the upper parts are greyish-brown without
spots; lower parts of a somewhat lighter tint, and also unspotted;
inner base of the quills and only the upper parts of the tail-feathers
pure white, the rest blackish-brown; the two elongated tail-feathers
gradually diminish in breadth towards the extremity, which ends in
a very attenuated point; bill and feet as in the old individuals.”
Captain JAMES CLARK ROSS has informed me by letter, that this species
was seen in great numbers during his late voyage towards the Arctic
circle; that the Pomarine Lestris was less abundant, and RICHARDSON’s
very rare.
LESTRIS BUFFONII, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of
the United States, p. 364.
LESTRIS, ARCTIC JAGER, _Swains. and Richards._ Fauna Bor.
Amer. part ii. p. 430.
ARCTIC JAGER, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 317.
Adult Male. Plate CCLXVII. Fig. 1.
Bill about the length of the head, rather slender, straight, the tip
curved. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, toward the end
curved, the ridge broad and convex, the sides separated from the ridge
by a narrow groove, extremely narrow and convex, the edges sharp and
inflected, the tip compressed, rather obtuse. Nostrils in the fore
part of the nasal groove, nearer the tip than the base, submarginal,
pervious, linear, oblong, wider anteriorly. Lower mandible with the
angle long and narrow, a slight prominence at its extremity, beyond
which the dorsal line is straight and ascending, the sides sloping
outwards and convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip obliquely
truncate and rather obtuse.
Head rather small, oblong, much narrowed before. Neck of moderate
length. Body rather slender. Feet rather short and of moderate
strength; tibia bare at its lower part; tarsus anteriorly covered
with broad decurved scutella, on the sides with oblong scales, behind
with smaller oblong prominent scales; hind toe extremely small and
elevated, the fore toes of moderate size, connected by reticulated
webs, which have their margins convex; the third toe longest, the
fourth not much shorter, all covered above with numerous scutella, the
lateral ones margined externally with small prominent scales directed
forwards. Claws of moderate size, curved, acute, compressed, that of
third toe with a sharp inner edge.
The plumage in general is close, elastic, soft, and blended; the
feathers on the back and wings rather compact and distinct. Wings very
long, rather broad, pointed; primary quills tapering and rounded, the
first longest, the rest rapidly graduated; secondary rather short,
rounded. Tail feathers of moderate length excepting the two middle,
which are extremely elongated and gradually attenuated, the rest
broad and rounded, there being twelve in all.
Bill greyish-black, the upper part bluish. Iris brown. Feet black,
but with the greater part of the tarsus yellow. The neck and lower
parts are white, the former tinged with yellow; upper and fore part
of head with the space before the cheeks blackish-brown; the lower
part of the hind neck and all the upper parts blackish-grey, the
primary quills and tail-feathers brownish-black, the shafts of the
former white.
Length to end of tail 23 inches, to end of wings 15; extent of wings
45; wing from flexure 12; tail 12; bill along the back 1-1/4, along the
edge of lower mandible 1-3/4; tarsus 1-7/12; middle toe 1-4/12, its claw
(4-1/2)/12.
Adult Female. Plate CCLXVII. Fig. 2.
The Female resembles the male, but the middle tail-feathers are about
three inches shorter.
THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK.
_SCOLOPAX MINOR_, GMEL.
PLATE CCLXVIII. 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 unmerciful 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 down
on the middle of a road, as if she were dead, while her little ones,
five in number, were endeavouring on feeble legs to escape from a
pack of naughty boys, who had already caught one of them, and were
kicking it over the dust in barbarous sport. The mother might have
shared the same fate, had I not happened to issue from the thicket,
and interpose in her behalf.
The American Woodcock, although allied to our Common Snipe, _Scolopax
Wilsonii_, differs essentially from it in its habits, even more
than in form. The former is a much gentler bird than the latter,
and although both see at night, the Woodcock is more nocturnal than
the Snipe. The latter often, without provocation or apparent object,
migrates or takes long and elevated flights during the day; but the
Woodcock rarely takes flight at this time, unless forced to do so to
elude its enemies, and even then removes only to a short distance.
When rambling unconcernedly, it rarely passes high above the tree
tops, or is seen before the dusk or after the morning twilight, when
it flies rather low, generally through the woods; and its travels
are altogether performed under night. The largeness of its eyes, as
compared with those of the Snipe, might of itself enable one to form
such a conclusion; but there is moreover a difference in the habits
of the Woodcock and Snipe, which I have been surprised at not finding
mentioned by WILSON, who certainly was an acute observer. It is that
the Woodcock, although a prober of the mire, frequently alights in
the interior of extensive forests, where little moisture can be seen,
for the purpose of turning up the dead leaves with its bill, in search
of food beneath them, in the manner of the Passenger Pigeon, various
Grakles, and other birds. This the Snipe, I believe, has never been
observed to do. Indeed, although the latter at times alights on the
borders of pools or streams overhung by trees, it never flies through
the woods.
The American Woodcock, which in New Brunswick is named the Bog-sucker,
is found dispersed in abundance during winter, over the southern parts
of the Union, and now and then, in warm and sequestered places, even
in the Middle Districts. Its stay in any portion of the country at
this period, seems to depend altogether on the state of the weather.
In the Carolinas, or even in Lower Louisiana, after a night of severe
frost, I have found their number greatly diminished in places where
they had been observed to be plentiful the day before. The limits of
its northern migrations at the commencement of the breeding season, are
yet unascertained. When in Newfoundland I was assured that it breeds
there; but I met with none either in that country or in Labrador,
although it is not rare in the British Provinces of New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia during summer. From the beginning of March until late in
October, this bird may be found in every district of the Union that
affords places suited to its habits; and its numbers, I am persuaded,
are much greater than is usually supposed. As it feeds by night, it
is rarely met with by day, unless by a sportsman or gunner, who may
be engaged in pursuing it for pleasure or profit. It is, however,
killed in almost incredible numbers, from the beginning of July until
late in winter, in different parts of the Union, and our markets
are amply supplied with it during its season. You may at times see
gunners returning from their sports with a load of Woodcocks, composed
of several dozens; nay, adepts in the sport have been known to kill
upwards of a hundred in the course of a day, being assisted by relays
of dogs, and perhaps a change of guns. In Lower Louisiana, they are
slaughtered under night by men carrying lighted torches, which so
surprise the poor things that they stand gazing on the light until
knocked dead with a pole or cane. This, however, takes place only on
the sugar and cotton plantations.
At the time when the Woodcocks are travelling from the south towards
all parts of the United States, on their way to their breeding places,
these birds, although they migrate singly, follow each other with such
rapidity, that they might be said to arrive in flocks, the one coming
directly in the wake of the other. This is particularly observable
by a person standing on the eastern banks of the Mississippi or the
Ohio, in the evening dusk, from the middle of March to that of April,
when almost every instant there whizzes past him a Woodcock, with a
velocity equalling that of our swiftest birds. See them flying across
and low over the broad stream; the sound produced by the action of
their wings reaches your ear as they approach, and gradually dies away
after they have passed and again entered the woods. While travelling
with my family, in the month of October, through New Brunswick and the
northern part of the State of Maine, I saw the Woodcocks returning
southward in equal numbers late in the evenings, and in the same
continuous manner, within a few yards or even feet of the ground, on
the roads or through the woods.
This species finds itself accommodated in the warmer parts of the
United States, as well as in high northern latitudes, during the
breeding season: it is well known to reproduce in the neighbourhood
of Savannah in Georgia, and near Charleston in South Carolina. My
friend JOHN BACHMAN has known thirty young ones, not yet fully fledged,
to have been killed in the vicinity of the latter place in one day.
I have never found its nest in Louisiana, but I have frequently
fallen in with it in the States from Mississippi to Kentucky, in
which latter country it breeds abundantly. In the Middle Districts,
the Woodcock begins to pair in the end of March; in the southern a
month earlier. At this season, its curious spiral gyrations, while
ascending or descending along a space of fifty or more yards of
height, in the manner described in the article of the Snipe, when
it utters a note different from the cry of that bird, and somewhat
resembling the word _kwauk_, are performed every evening and morning
for nearly a fortnight. While on the ground, at this season as well
as in autumn, the male not unfrequently repeats this sound, as if
he were calling to others in his neighbourhood, and on hearing it
answered, immediately flies to meet the other bird, which in the same
manner advances toward him. On observing the Woodcock while in the
act of emitting these notes, you would imagine he exerted himself to
the utmost to produce them, its head and bill being inclined towards
the ground, and a strong forward movement of the body taking place
at the moment the kwauk reaches your ear. This over, the bird jerks
its half-spread tail, then erects itself, and stands as if listening
for a few moments, when, if the cry is not answered, it repeats it. I
feel pretty confident that, in spring, the female, attracted by these
sounds, flies to the male; for on several occasions I observed the
bird that had uttered the call immediately caress the one that had
just arrived, and which I knew from its greater size to be a female.
I am not, however, quite certain that this is always the case, for on
other occasions I have seen a male fly off and alight near another,
when they would immediately begin to fight, tugging at and pushing
each other with their bills, in the most curious manner imaginable.
The nest, which is formed of dried leaves and grass, without much
apparent care, is usually placed in some secluded part of the woods,
at the foot of some bush, or by the side of a fallen trunk. In one
instance, near Camden, in New Jersey, I found one in a small swamp,
on the upper part of a log, the lower portion of which was covered
with water to the height of several inches. The eggs, which are
laid from February to the first of June, according to the latitude
of the place selected, are usually four, although I have not very
unfrequently found five in a nest. They average one inch and five
and a half-eighths in length, by one inch and an eighth in breadth,
are smooth, of a dull yellowish clay colour, varying in depth, and
irregularly but pretty thickly marked with patches of dark brown,
and others of a purple tint.
The young run about as soon as they emerge from the shell. To my
astonishment, I once met with three of them on the border of a sand-bar
on the Ohio, without their parent, and to all appearance not more
than half a day old. I concealed myself near them for about half an
hour, during which time the little things continued to totter about
the edge of the water, as if their mother had gone that way. During
the time I remained I did not see the old bird, and what became of
them I know not. The young birds are at first covered with down of a
dull yellowish-brown colour, then become streaked with deeper umber
tints, and gradually acquire the colours of the old. At the age of
from three to four weeks, although not fully fledged, they are able
to fly and escape from their enemies, and when they are six weeks
old, it requires nearly as much skill to shoot them on wing as if
they were much older. At this age they are called _stupid_ by most
people; and, in fact, being themselves innocent, and not yet having
had much experience, they are not sufficiently aware of the danger
that may threaten them, when a two-legged monster, armed with a
gun, makes his appearance. But, Reader, observe an old cock on such
occasions: there he lies, snugly squatted beneath the broad leaves
of that “sconk cabbage” or dock. I see its large dark eye meeting my
glance; the bird shrinks as it were within its usual size, and, in
a crouching attitude, it shifts with short steps to the other side.
The nose of the faithful pointer marks the spot, but unless you are
well acquainted with the ways of Woodcocks, it has every chance of
escaping from you both, for at this moment it runs off through the
grass, reaches a clump of bushes, crosses it, and, taking to wing
from a place toward which neither you nor your dog have been looking,
you become flustered, take a bad aim, and lose your shot.
Thousands of persons besides you and myself are fond of Woodcock
shooting. It is a healthful but at times laborious sport. You well know
the places where the birds are to be found under any circumstances;
you are aware that, if the weather has been for some time dry, you
must resort to the damp meadows that border the Schuylkil, or some
similar places; that should it be sultry, the covered swamps are the
spots which you ought to visit; but if it be still lowering after
continued rain, the southern sides of gentle hills will be found
preferable; that if the ground is covered with snow, the oozy places
visited by the Snipe are as much resorted to by the Woodcock; that
after long frost, the covered thickets along some meandering stream
are the places of their retreat; and you are aware that, at all times,
it is better for you to have a dog of any kind than to go without a
dog at all. Well, you have started a bird, which with easy flaps flies
before you in such a way that if you miss it, your companion certainly
will not. Should he, however, prove as unsuccessful as yourself, you
may put up the bird once, twice, or thrice in succession, for it will
either alight in some clump of low trees close by, or plunge into a
boggy part of the marsh. As you advance towards him, you may chance
to put up half a score more, and _stupid_ though you should be, you
must be a bad shot indeed if you do not bring some one of them to
the ground. Aye, you have done it, and are improving at the sport,
and you may be assured that the killing of Woodcocks requires more
practice than almost any other kind of shooting. The young sportsman
shoots too quick, or does not shoot at all, in both which cases the
game is much better pleased than you are yourself. But when once you
have acquired the necessary coolness and dexterity, you may fire,
charge and fire again from morning till night, and go on thus during
the whole of the Woodcock season.
Now and then, the American Woodcock, after being pursued for a
considerable time, throws itself into the centre of large miry places,
where it is very difficult for either man or dog to approach it; and
indeed if you succeed, it will not rise unless you almost tread upon
it. In such cases I have seen dogs point at them, when they were only
a few inches distant, and after several minutes seize upon them. When
in clear woods, such as pine barrens, the Woodcock on being put up
flies at times to a considerable distance, and then performs a circuit
and alights not far from you. It is extremely attached to particular
spots, to which it returns after being disturbed.
Its flight is performed by constant rather rapid beats of the wings,
and while migrating it passes along with great speed. I am inclined
to think its flight is greatly protracted, on account of the early
periods at which it reaches Maine and New Brunswick:—I may be wrong,
but I am of opinion that at such times it flies faster than our little
Partridge. In proceeding, it inclines irregularly to the right and
left at the end of every few yards; but when it has been put up after
having settled for a while, it rises as if not caring about you, and
at a slow pace goes a few yards and alights again, runs a few steps
and squats to await your departure. It is less addicted to wading
through the water than the Snipe, and never searches for food in salt
marshes or brackish places. Rivulets that run through thickets, and
of which the margins are muddy or composed of oozy ground, are mostly
preferred by it; but, as I have already said, its place of abode
depends upon the state of the weather and the degree of temperature.
The food of the Woodcock consists principally of large earth-worms,
of which it swallows as many in the course of a night as would equal
its own weight; but its power of digestion is as great as that of the
Herons, and it is not very often that on opening one you find entire
worms in its stomach. It obtains its food by perforating the damp
earth or mire, and also by turning the dead leaves in the woods, and
picking up the worms that lie beneath them. In captivity, Woodcocks
very soon accustom themselves to feed on moistened corn meal, bits
of cheese, and vermicelli soaked in water. I have seen some that
became so gentle as to allow their owner to caress them with the
hand. On watching several individuals probing mud in which a number
of earthworms had been introduced, in a tub placed in a room partially
darkened, I observed the birds plunge their bills up to the nostrils,
but never deeper; and from the motion of the parts at the base of
the mandibles, I concluded that the bird has the power of working
their extremities so as to produce a kind of vacuum, which enables
it to seize the worm at one end, and suck it into its throat before
it withdraws its bill, as do Curlews and Godwits. The quickness of
their sight on such occasions was put to the test by uncovering a cat
placed in the corner of the room, at the same height above the floor
as the surface of the mud which filled the tub, when instantly the
Woodcock would draw out its bill, jerk up its tail, spread it out,
leap upon the floor, and run off to the opposite corner. At other
times, when the cat was placed beneath the level of the bird, by the
whole height of the tub, which was rather more than a foot, the same
result took place; and I concluded that the elevated position of this
bird’s eye was probably intended to enable it to see its enemies at
a considerable distance, and watch their approach, while it is in
the act of probing, and not to protect that organ from the mire, as
the Woodcock is always extremely clean, and never shews any earth
adhering to the feathers about its mouth.
How comfortable it is when fatigued and covered with mud, your clothes
drenched with wet, and your stomach aching for food, you arrive at
home with a bag of Woodcocks, and meet the kind smiles of those you
love best, and which are a thousand times more delightful to your
eye, than the savoury flesh of the most delicate of birds can be to
your palate. When you have shifted your clothes, and know that on the
little round table already spread, you will ere long see a dish of
game, which will both remove your hunger and augment the pleasure of
your family; when you are seated in the midst of the little group,
and now see some one neatly arrayed introduce the mess, so white, so
tender, and so beautifully surrounded by savoury juice; when a jug of
sparkling Newark cider stands nigh; and you, without knife or fork,
quarter a Woodcock, ah Reader!—But alas! I am not in the Jerseys just
now, in the company of my generous friend EDWARD HARRIS; nor am I
under the hospitable roof of my equally esteemed friend JOHN BACHMAN.
No, Reader, I am in Edinburgh, wielding my iron pen, without any
expectation of Woodcocks for my dinner, either to-day or to-morrow,
or indeed for some months to come.
SCOLOPAX MINOR, _Gmel._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 661.—_Lath._
Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 714.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of
Birds of the United States, p. 331.
WOODCOCK, SCOLOPAX MINOR, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. vi.
p. 40. pl. 48. fig. 2.
LESSER WOODCOCK, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 194.
Adult Male. Plate CCLXVIII. Fig. 1.
Bill double the length of the head, straight, slender, tapering,
subtrigonal 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
subhexagonal 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.