SCOLOPAX. Tern &c. RUST/COLA, Bill long, straight, compressed, slender, soft, with the tip turgid ; both mandibles channelled the half of their length, the tip of the upper projecting beyond that of the under, and the turgid portion hooked ; nostrils lateral, ba sal, longitudinally cleft near the edges of the mandible, and covered by a membrane ; legs slender, with a very small naked space above the knee ; the three four toes quite divided, or else the outer and middle rarely united. The few species which compose the reduced genus live in woods or marshes, and subsist on small slugs or worms. In. some countries they are stationary, but in most migratory They abound more in the northern than in the southern regions, and they moult twice a-year, but without inducing those remarkable changes of plumage observable in sonic of the preceding families.
S. rusticola, Lin. &c. Rusticola vulgaris, Vieill. Wood cock. Back of the head transversely barred, lower parts barred with zig-zag lines. The ordinary length is fifteen inches, and the weight from twelve to fifteen ounces.
This well-known species inhabits the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and Africa, migrating on the approach of winter to more temperate latitudes. In this island it seldom appears in numbers till about the middle of No vember ; but some stragglers incidentally appear as early as the latter end of September, or the beginning of Oc tober. They generally come to its with northerly or easterly winds, when their breeding stations become con gealed with frost, or covered with snow ; and if intense cold suddenly overtakes them, they sometimes arrire on our coast in large flocks, and after remaining for a day to recruit their strength, disperse over the interior of the country. Sportsmen have remarked, that there are times when these birds are so sluggish and sleepy, that, on be ing flushed, they will drop again, just before the dogs, or even at the muzzle of the fowling-piece that had been fired at them, owing possibly to the fatigue of a long and laborious flight across the German Ocean. In some parts of the island they arc not so plentiful as formerly, when more extensive woods and marshes were spread over the soil, and the art of shooting flying was less prac tised. We may add, that of late years the Swedish boors bring great quantities of their eggs to the market, at Stockholm, which has had a visible effect in checking the multiplication of the species. They are, however, by no means rare in the more uncultivated parts of Cornwall, Devonshire. and Wales, and in the north of Scotland; but they are still more common in Ireland; and they seem to increase in numbers in the western parts of that island, whence it has been inferred, that the great column of woodcocks, in their passage to and from the north, fly in that latitudinal direction which is intersected by the western parts of Ireland; so that those which prosecute their route farther south, will find their resting place in Portugal. They are accordingly very plentiful in that country in November, but become scarcer as the winter advances, many of them, no doubt, moving on still in the same line to Africa. In the beginning of March, on their return northward, they are again observed in Portugal in great abundance, but disappear as the warmer season ap proaches. In their migrations they chiefly fly during the night, or in dark or foggy weather. They preferably be take themselves to the woods, or to places abounding in soft mould and fallen leaves, squat down in concealment during the day, and come forth in the evening and during the night to cater for worms, whose presence they seem to ascertain by the delicacy of their scent, and which they extract from the ground, or snatch from tinder their leaves with great accuracy and promptitude. As their eyes are
constructed for seeing in the twilight, or in moonshine.
.hey are dazzled by the glare of day. After feeding in the glades, they wash their bill in the nearest pool. Their movements are most active and lively before sunrise. and after sunset. On rising, they flap their wings, and spread Jut their tail. Their flight is rapid, but neither elevated nor long sustained ; and they fall abruptly down, as if abandoned to their own weight. Immediately on alighting, hey run nimbly to some distance, so that they are never found precisely where they fall. It has been ascertained by experiment, that they regularly return to the same 'tinter haunts. In this country they usually pair and pre pare for flight, ht about the middle of March, when flocks of them repair to the sea-coast, and, if the wind is fa vourable, arc soon out of sight, but, if adverse, they linger till it changes. In some countries they may be said to be stationary, only shifting from the plains to the mountains in the breeding season ; and a few straggling pairs occa sionally breed in our own island. The female places her nest on the ground, in solitary and hilly situations, and composes it of dry leaves and herbs, intermingled with little bits of stick, the whole put together in an artless manner, and heaped against the trunk of a tree, or under its roots ; and she lays four or five oblong eggs, a little larger than those of the common pigeon, of a rufous grey, shaded with deeper and dusky undulations. She is said to be very tame during incubation ; and it is mentioned, that a person who discovered a woodcock on its nest, often stood over, and even stroked it, notwithstanding which it hatched the young, and in due time disappeared with them. When the young are hatched, they venture out of the nest, and run about, though covered only with a sort of downy hair. In cases of emergency, the parents, who never separate while the offspring requires their assistance or protection, have been seen to carry one of their young under their throat, in their feet, or on their back, to the distance of a thousand paces. During incubation, the male attends on his mate with great assiduity ; and they rest, with their hills mutually leaning on each other's backs. Both male and female are mute, except in the breeding season, when their cries are variously modified, according to the emotions by which they are agitated, but their most common call resembles that of the snipe. The males are readily induced to fight from jealousy ; and, when wounded, they have, it is alleged, been seen to shed teat's. When the flocks are waiting for a fair wind to steer their course to the north, the sportsmen are particularly on the alert, and do great execution ; but if the birds have been long detained on the dry heath, they become so lean as to be scarcely eatable. They are most plump, and in highest condition, from November to February, after which their flesh gets meagre ; nor is it very tender till it has been kept for some time ; and it is always served up with the trail. The inhabitants of Sweden, Norway, and some of the northern countries, reject it, from the prevalence of a foolish notion that it is unwholesome, be cause the birds have no crops; but they are as partial to the eggs as other epicures.