. Annual report . the field or on toast. It is easily distinguished from the other game birds. The general color is arufous gray, effectively marked above with black; its head is larger than thatof the snipe or partridge (bob white), and its eyes are set well back and high toenable it to see when boring in the mud with its long bill. The legs and billare of a gray flesh color; the bill is about two and three quarter inches long;twice the length of the head. In extent of wings the woodcock will measureabout eighteen inches, and a full grown bird will weigh from seven and one halfto ten ounces a
. Annual report . the field or on toast. It is easily distinguished from the other game birds. The general color is arufous gray, effectively marked above with black; its head is larger than thatof the snipe or partridge (bob white), and its eyes are set well back and high toenable it to see when boring in the mud with its long bill. The legs and billare of a gray flesh color; the bill is about two and three quarter inches long;twice the length of the head. In extent of wings the woodcock will measureabout eighteen inches, and a full grown bird will weigh from seven and one halfto ten ounces according to its condition. While the general haunt of the woodcock is boggy and low-lying woodland,he is often found in the hillside forests, and not infrequently at the summit ofthe hill. The woodcock arrives on the St. Lawrence River usually about the first ofApril, and many breed in its vicinity. In some places, however, where onlya few years ago they were numerous there is scarcely one to be found. There is a. Q o Hen P < «a Q i Q a THE WILD FOWL OF THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER. 369 strip of woodland in the town of Cape Vincent, Jefferson county, where, Mr. Stanley-tells me, a pair of woodcock have bred for several years. His explanation of the scarcity of woodcock is, first, the game hog hunterwho used to frequent this section as long as there was anything left to shoot;and now, the robbing of their nests by vermin and the destruction of their youngby hawks and other predatory fowl. Not long since Mr. Stanley shot a largehawk just as it had eaten about half the flesh from a partridge. On anotheroccasion while preparing a night hawk for setting up he found in its crop acouple of young yellow legs, so that he is convinced that similar depredations onthe young woodcock are one of the causes that prevents a more rapid increase ofthis very desirable bird. Their food is principally earthworms, though insects, common in damp andspongy woods, are readily devoured. It is said that a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectforests, bookyear1902
