280 THE REASON WHY : 



" But if I knew when yc-u come next a burclinp, 

 I'll have a stronger noose to hold the icoodcock." 



BEAUMONT AND FLKTCHER. 



896. Why are birds of the snipe family without the 

 hind toe of other birds ? 



Because in wading in the mud, where the feet must necessarily 

 sink deeply, a long hind toe would be an incuinbrance, and tend to 

 throw the bird on to its head in the water. 



897. Why do snipes and woodcocks gradually disappear from 

 cultivated districts ? 



Becalise the three essentials to the tribe are solitude, shelter, 

 and humidity consequently, population, clearance, and drainage 

 drive them into more sequestered places. 



898. The grand resort of woodcocks in summer is understood to be marshy 

 woods to the north of the Baltic ; and the farther north, so long as the place is 

 wooded, the better, as the insect food for the birds is not only more plentiful, but 

 the sludge of the marshes is more exclusively the nest of larvae. 



899. Why does the flamingo, when feeding, hold its head and 

 beak upside-down in the water '/ 



The feet of the bird while feeding are moved in a trampling 

 manner, in order to stir the sand or mud beneath the water ; 

 the food thus disturbed, whether insects, fish, or stones, are conti- 

 nually falling into their former position. The flamingo, by 

 placing its head in that peculiar way, catches in its mouth, tests 

 upon its tongue, and appropriates to its use whatever is 

 suitable for food. 



900. The structure of the flamingo's tongue is admirably adapted to its purpose. 

 The spines with which the upper surface is armed are arranged in an irregular and 

 alternate series, and act with the notches on the edge of the upper mandible, on 

 which they press when the bird feeds with the head reversed. In this reversed 

 position, the weight and size of the tongue supply a very efficient instrument for 

 entrapping the food. The bird muddles and clutters the bill, and dabbles about ; 

 and the tongue receives, and holds as a strainer, whatever the water offers foi 

 food.* 



* Maunder's "Treasury." 



