WATER BIRDS. 



175 



worms and possibly other animal food and its structure is such that the 

 mandibles may be separated near the tip without withdrawing the bill. 

 The holes thus left in the soft ground, and known to the sportsman as 

 "borings," are infallible indications of the neighborhood of the bird, but 

 since it feeds mainly by night and hides closely by day, a good dog is 

 absolutely necessary for successful shooting. 



There is no reason to suppose that the Woodcock gets all its food by 

 probing or "boring"; in fact there is abundant evidence to the contrary. 

 The structure of the bill allows the bird to pick up food from the surface 

 with ease and precision, and the examination of stomachs proves that 

 the diet is quite varied. Although earthworms are consumed in large 



Fig. 48. Woodcock on Nest. 

 Photograph from life. (Courtesy of Gerard Alan Abbott.) 



numbers, various other worms are also eaten, and soft-bodied insect larvae, 

 especially those of subterranean habits, are constantly devoured. Dr. 

 B. H. Warren, of West Chester., Pa. records beetles, larvae, and a single 

 spider, as taken from stomachs, and one killed in November, had eaten 

 nothing but small seeds (Birds of Pa., 1888, p. 80). Professor Aughey 

 found locusts in several Woodcock taken in Nebraska, and although other 

 insects usually formed the larger part of the food, one taken in Otoe county 

 in September 1876, had 32 locusts in its stomach, "besides a large number 

 of other insects" (1st Rep. U. S. Entom. Com. App. 2, p. 51). 



It has an interesting habit of "towering," that is, of rising to a con- 

 siderable height by spiral flight, at either morning or evening twilight, 

 uttering a peculiar scries of notes meanwhile, and then pitching back to 



