The Burgess Bird Book for Children 



Then he pulled it out and Peter caught a glimpse 

 of the tail end of a worm disappearing down Long- 

 bill's throat. Where that long bill had gone into 

 the ground was a neat little round hole. For the 

 first time Peter noticed that there were many such 

 little round holes all about. "Did you make all 

 those little round holes?" exclaimed Peter. 



"Not all," replied Longbill. "Mrs. Woodcock 

 made some of them." 



"And was there a worm in every one?" asked 

 Peter, his eyes very wide with interest. 



Longbill nodded. " Of course," said he. "You 

 don't suppose we would take the trouble to bore 

 one of them if we didn't know that we would get 

 a worm at the end of it, do you ?" 



Peter remembered how he had watched Wel- 

 come Robin listen and then suddenly plunge his 

 bill into the ground and pull out a worm. But the 

 worms Welcome Robin got were always close to 

 the surface, while these worms were so deep in 

 the earth that Peter couldn't understand how it 

 was possible for any one to know that they were 

 there. Welcome Robin could see when he got 

 hold of a worm, but Longbill couldn't. "Even 

 if you know there is a worm down there in the 

 ground, how do you know when you've reached 

 him ? And how is it possible for you to open your 

 bill down there to take him in?" asked Peter. 

 [64] 



