FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



325 



In October the birds have their full coats of new feathers and may be again 

 found abundantly in their old haunts — the swamps. They commence their fall 

 migrations in this month, and by the last of November have gone to winter in the 

 Southern States. 



This bird is altogether crepuscular and nocturnal in its habits, feeding at night by 

 probing in the mud with its long, soft, sensitive bill. The sensitive nature of the bill 

 renders it possible for the bird to distinguish by the sense of feeling whether it has 

 found a stick or a worm, and if the latter, it is generally able to suck it from the 

 ground without withdrawing its bill. This has given rise to the common name of 

 "bog-sucker" in some localities. It has the peculiar faculty of separating its 

 mandibles near the tip by making a compound curve in the upper one. This is for 

 the purpose of using the two parts of the bill as finger and thumb in probing the mud 

 and feeling for its food without having to 

 open the mouth widely at the base of 

 the mandibles. 



The holes or borings of the bird are 

 plainly visible as clear-cut, neat, deep 

 holes in the mud of swamp or moist field. 

 By these signs the hunter is able to locate 

 the feeding-grounds of the birds. Now 

 if he wishes to find them he may do so 

 by going to the copse or brushy hillside 

 nearby, or in the woodland not far from 

 the swamp. By hunting carefully in such 

 regions he may flush the birds singly, and 

 as they fly up in a decidedly corkscrew- 

 like path a person must be indeed an 

 expert with a gun in order to bring them 

 down. However, if the first shot misses 

 there will be an opportunity for a "straight- 

 away" shot with the second, as the bird 

 when thus surprised straightens its course 

 and flies as if to get away from that spot 

 by the nearest possible route, which must 

 be a straight line. When it alights it 

 suddenly drops into the grass, leaves 

 or bushes, and often does not again 

 move until actually kicked out, or flushed 



WOODCOCK. 



