Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/739

WOODCHUCK. 631 WOOD-ENGRAVING. South Carolina ;iii(l wost U> Nebraska. Tt is from 15 to 18 iriclios lung, blackish or {.'riz/.lcd above, ^chestnut-red below; the form thick, the head broad and Hat, the legs short and thick, the tail bushy. The hair is rather soft, the vvhi.skers long and stout. This animal digs deep holes in fields, on the sides of hill.s, or under rocks in woods; its burrow slants upward, so that water may not enter, and within are several compartments. It passes the winter in the burrow, in a, lethargic state, going to its hibernation in liile September, and often coming out in March, before the snow and cold have ceased, when many starve or freeze to death. The food of the woodciiuck is vegetable, and it is particularly destructive to crops of red clover and alfalfa, and to early garden crops. It is easily tamed, and may be fed on bread, milk, and vegetables. Its llesh is usually well flavored and that of young individuals is very good. Con- sult Stone and Cram, Aiiirrirnn AniiiKils (New York, I !)02 ) . See Plate of Gophers, etc. WOODCOCK (AS. icuducoc, from wndu, wood -)- coc, cock). The popular name of certain birds closely related to the snipes (q.v. ), but of more bulky form and having shorter and stronger legs. The common wooilcock of the Old World I .s'cofo- pax rusticola) , well known as a game-bird in Great Eritain, and highly esteemed as a delicacy for the table, is found also in all parts of Europe and the north of Asia, and in Japan. Its sum- mer haunts are chiefly the northern pine-forests, and in winter it is chieny to be found in moist woods and swamps, seeking for worms, snails, and slugs as food, boring with its long bill in the soft ground. The quantity of food which it de- vours is very great: a single woodcock has been known to consume in a night more earth-worms than half filled a garden pot of moderate size. The woodcock is about 13 inches in length; the upper parts varied with ruddy, yellowish, and ash color, finely intermingled, and marked by large black spots, the lower parts yellowish red, with zigzag lines; the quill-feathers striped with red and black on the edge; the tail-feathers tipped with gray above and white below. The female is rather stouter and larger than the male, and sometimes attains a weight of 14 or 15 ounces. The woodcock makes its nest in warm, dry situations, on the ground, of dead leaves loosely laid together. It lays only three or four ■eggs of a pale yellowish or reddish brown color. The American woodcock (Philohcla minor) is a smaller bird than the woodcock of Europe, being only about 1 1 inches long, but is very simi- lar in plumage and habits. Three transverse black bands mark the hinder part of the head. It is found in all parts of North America, east of Colorado, and, though niigratorj' in the north, is resident in the south. The eggs differ from those of the European species in being spotted. This is by many regarded as the foremost game bird of America. Its flight is erratic and very swift, so that woodcock-shooting requires much skill; and the flesh is in high repute. The re- sult is that in many parts of the country it has become verj' scarce. See Plate of Beach Birds. WOOD'COXTBT, Allan. Esther Summerson's lover in Dickens's Blrat^ House. WOOD-DOVE. A rather indefinite name ap- plied to many pigeons, as the European turtle dove or the American mourning dove. WOOD-DUCK, or Si mmku Dick. An Ameri- can fresh-water duck {Aix spotisa). It is of medium size, and the male is exceedingly band- some. The i)ack is greenish brown, the head green with purplish reflections and marked with considerable while, the brf-ast purplish eliestnut, spotted with white, the sides yellowish, finely barred with black, and the belly white. The bill is pinkish and red, the feet orange. There is a crest on the head, and the ujiper tail coverts and some feathers of the back ;uid sides are elongated to add to tlu^ beauty of his a]jpearance. The fe- male is more plainly attired, but is very hand- some. In sumnuu- these ducks are scattered nu- merously all over the country, breeding along every stream or pond, and often a long distance from water. The nest is made in a hollow stum]) or tree, often more than 50 feet above the ground, and the young sometimes jump down, and some- times are carried in the bills or on the backs of the mother. See Cidorcd Plate of Ducks. WOOD-ENGRAVING (.Xvloguaphy) . The most important form of engra'ing in relief, that is to say, with the lines, the figures, or the pattern left in projection, while the back- ground is cut away or 'lowered.' The ink by which the figure or pattern is i)rinted off upon paper (U- other material is applied to these pro- jecting lines and surfaces and taken thence by the paper ; whereas in line engraving, etching, and the like the ink fills the inci.sed lines and is cleared off from the polished surface, except as described in connection with the rctroussage. (See Drt Point; Engraving; Etching; Line Engraving.) The process of engraving in relief is of peculiar importance in connection with printing from movable types, stereotype plates, and the like, because the ink is applied and transferred in exactly the same way. An engraved wood block, or the electrotype made from it, is of precisely the same character as a surface for the printer as is the surface of a page of type, or the stereotype or electrotype plate made from it. Woodcuts can be printed, therefore, with type, the whole page together; whereas when it is desired to print an impres- sion from a line engraving or an etching on the same page with the letterpress, the sheet of paper must pass through two separate presses and undergo two operations. E.akly Woodcuts. The origin of wood-engrav- ing is a matter of much controversy. Wood- cuts, in various forms, were used to print or stamp in remotest antiquity ; by the Babylo- nians and Egyptians to indent bricks; by the Romans to print letters and grotesques ; dur- ing the Aliddle Ages to stamp monograms, and to print color designs on linens, leathers, satins, ami silks — a custom practiced in the Orient from time immemorial. But wood-engraving, in the modern sense, postdates the introduction into Europe of paper during the twelfth century; for it was not practicable to print on papyrus, vellum, or the materials previously used. From most ancient times the Chinese printed both let- ters and illustrations from wooden blocks; but the hypothesis that wood-engraving was intro- duced into Europe by the commerce of Venice with them lacks confirmation. In Europe it was of independent origin, having been probably prac- ticed as early as the fourteenth century. At the beginning of the fifteenth prints from wood-