SCOLOPAX RUSTICOLA 33 



The diet of the Woodcock ranges over rather wide Hmits. 

 Tickell says it will swallow a lob worm whole, I have found tiny 

 snails and water shells in its stomach, and on another occasion a bird 

 I examined had been feeding entirely on some small white worms, 

 of a very wiry hard consistency. It feeds on grabs, beetles, insects 

 of almost any sort, and will also swallow spawn of frogs. It is almost 

 entirely a nocturnal bird, even more nocturnal than crepuscular, 

 feeding after dark or only a very short time before nightfall. In the 

 day it lies up and sleeps, and at this time is usually found in a dry 

 spot, though near water. 



The Plate. — This is an excellent one. The bird in the background 

 represents the grey phase of colouration. As regards the bird in the 

 foreground all that need be said is that the white round the eye is 

 too conspicuous and the bill is not a normal colour. It is true that 

 in a few birds the tint of the bill may be as depicted, but, as a rule, 

 there is always a more flesh or horn-coloured tinge about it. 



It must be remembered that the range of variation in the depth 

 of colouration of the Woodcock is very great, and though the plate is 

 a very fine example of one shade, many birds will be found to be 

 paler, especially on the lower parts, whilst some again may be 

 obtained even darker than this bird. 



In life the eye of the Woodcock seems even larger, darker and 

 more lustrous than it is shown to be in the plate. 



