THE LA RUE HOLMES NATURE LOVERS LEAGUE. 



271 



As I looked, for the past few days, 

 on the tens of thousands of mankind, 

 gathered in New York City, 1 won- 

 dered if any could be as happy as they 

 who worship God and nature. 

 Sincerely yours, 



Alfred Ivinsey. 

 South Orange, N. J. 



I have not plucked a wild flower 

 this vear. — Airs. P. Z. 



The American Woodcock. 



BY GEORGE CHILDS, OF THE KENWOOD 

 CHAPTER, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 



How it differs from other members of 

 the Scolopacidae or snipe family. 



The eyes are situated unusually high 

 in the triangular-shaped head. Because 

 of this they are able to see over com- 

 paratively high objects, as Audubon 

 once proved to his own satisfaction. He 

 took a small tub, placed a captured 

 woodcock in it, and stationed a cat 

 near the edge of the tub. Although the 

 rim of the receptacle was as high as 

 the bird, the cat was immediately spied 

 and the woodcock made its escape as 

 quickly as possible. The large size of 

 the eyes, also, show that the bird is 

 nocturnal, feeding and flying, for the 

 most part, by night. 



The structure of the bill is another 

 feature peculiar to the woodcock. The 



A WOODCOCK'S NEST ON THE GROUND. 



Unlike other members of the snipe 

 family, the American woodcock (Philo- 

 hela Minor) is strictly terrestrial. It 

 is true that the ruff, or fighting snipe, 

 of Scotland and the Hebrides, breeds 

 and incubates in secluded wooded dis- 

 tricts, but the greater part of its life is 

 spent in marshes or on streams. 



The gregarious habits of the English 

 snipe, its strange disappearances from 

 certain localities, and its appearance in 

 others, are characteristics observed also 

 in the woodcock. The European great 

 snipe, with its short legs, long bill, and 

 comparatively massive form, more 

 closely resembles this strange bird than 

 any other representative of its family. 

 But there are a few wide differences 

 which distinguish the woodcock from 

 other members of his class ; namely the 

 eyes, the peculiar properties of the bill, 

 and the nesting period flight. 



upper mandible, or division of the bill, 

 protrudes beyond the lower, and is 

 equipped with a short, flexible appen- 

 dage, used in catching earth worms, 

 located deep in the ground. The 

 method of procedure is very interest- 

 ing. The bird thrusts its bill into the 

 earth up to its nostrils ; with the flexible 

 appendage it prys around until it is 

 able to grasp the worm which it pro- 

 ceeds to pull out of its hiding-place. 



The woodcock possesses yet another 

 striking" individuality. If suddenly 

 aroused from its nest, it flies upward 

 in large spiral curves until it is some 

 fifty feet above the earth. In course 

 of time it will descend, in like manner, 

 to the ground. 



It is generally supposed that by these 

 means it sometimes deludes hunters, 

 who are often under the impression 



