2i6 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



otherwise find. The hind toe is placed higher up than the front ones, and 

 does not reach the ground. In some birds ot the family it is quite absent. 



The favourite lood of the woodcock is earth-worms, and it seeks after 

 them with the greatest eagerness. The quantity it will devour is almost past 

 belief. There was a pair of woodcocks kept in an aviary in Spain, and every 

 care was taken of them. It was a delightful spot, with a fountain trickling on 

 the ground to keep it moist, and shaded by trees from the heat ot the sun, and 

 fresh sods were constantly supplied. The woodcocks had an ample supply 

 of worms, and it was an amusement to their owners to watch the process of 

 catching them. 



In vain the worm buried itself in the earth ; as soon as the bird was 

 hungry it was sure to come to the exact spot. It seemed to find out its prey 

 by the smell, and never missed its aim. It would plunge its bill into the 

 earth as high as the nostrils, and draw the worm slowly out ; then it would 

 raise its bill in the air, and swallow the prey in an instant. 



The plumage of the woodcock is very compact and variegated with 

 different colours, such as black, brown, grey, and yellow. The forehead is 

 grey, and there are three pale red bands on the upper and back part of 

 the head. 



It is a bird of night, and hides during the day in some secure retreat 

 under a bush or a tree ; and the sportsman has to beat about with dogs in 

 order to start it. But when it is not disturbed it does not always doze all 

 day, but has been seen searching actively for worms and insects along brooks 

 and ditches, and by the side of hedges. A laurel or holly bush is a favourite 

 spot for the woodcock to repose under, the thick leaves affording a warm 

 shelter from the cold. 



Towards night the bird issues forth on silent wing, and takes the usual 

 track to its feeding ground. The glades in the wood through which it passes 

 are well known to its enemies, and are called cock-roads. At one time nets 

 and snares were laid in its way ; but now the more usual mode of procuring 

 it is by the gun. 



In Scotla:nd the fir woods form a pleasant shelter for the woodcocks in 

 the day-time ; but if the weather is very severe, they quit their lair in the 

 wood during the day, and go out to feed at the sheltered places where the 

 frost has relaxed its hold on the ground. 



The bird drives his bill m the mud to a great depth, and performs 



