. Annual report of the Commissioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests of the State of New York. Forests and forestry; Fisheries; Game and game-birds. 270 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF the manner of the woodcock, at this working rapidly and even with the head and part of the neck under water. On the wing they are vigorous and move with sur- prising celerity, performing in company many extensive and interesting manoeuvres. They are very unsuspicious, and permit easy approach within gunshot, so that among these flocks, which not unusually aggregate hundreds, it is possible, over decoys and by imit
. Annual report of the Commissioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests of the State of New York. Forests and forestry; Fisheries; Game and game-birds. 270 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF the manner of the woodcock, at this working rapidly and even with the head and part of the neck under water. On the wing they are vigorous and move with sur- prising celerity, performing in company many extensive and interesting manoeuvres. They are very unsuspicious, and permit easy approach within gunshot, so that among these flocks, which not unusually aggregate hundreds, it is possible, over decoys and by imitating their call, to which they readily respond, to commit great slaughter. Even after an alarm, so tame are they and so solicitous for the wounded, that it is of little trouble to recall them within range. The dowitcher locates its nest along the marshy margin of some small lake, and after the manner of snipes and sandpipers, without any attempt at elaborate archi- tecture, proceeds to arrange a few dead leaves in a slight hollow made in the mossy ground, and makes this to serve for the cradle of its young. The four decidedly pyriform eggs vary much in size, and are drab or somewhat olivaceous, with many markings of dark brown. The dowitcher is somewhat over ten inches in length, with an alar expanse of about eighteen inches; the wing is five and a half, the bill from two to two and a half inches in length. In summer the / upper parts are black, mottled with cinna- mon and whitish ; the upper part of the rump is white, usually with few dusky markings or none ; the rest of the rump, the tail and tail-coverts are barred with blackish, the tail much the most heavily ; the head, neck and under surface of the body are pale cinnamon, the abdomen whitish, the sides and breast spotted with dusky, the head and neck streaked with the same. In winter the bird is quite different in appearance, having lost almost all the warm brown and cinnamon shades, and being nearly uniform gray, somewh
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectforests, bookyear1895
