THE FARMER AT HOME. 4(57 



sembles that of Europe, but is considerably less, and very differ 

 ently marked. This bird is universally known to our sportsmen. 

 During the day, they keep the woods and thickets, and at the approach 

 of evening, seek the springs and open watery places to feed in. They 

 soon disperse themselves over the country to breed. In the hot weather, 

 they descend to the marshy shores of our rivers, their favorite springs 

 and watery recesses inland being chiefly dried up. To the former of 

 these retreats, they are pursued by the mercil^s sportsmen, and shot 

 down in great numbers. The woodcock is properly a nocturnal bird, 

 feeding chiefly at night, and seldom stirring about till after sunset. 

 Their food consists of larvaB and other aquatic worms, for which, during 

 the evening, they are almost continually turning over the leaves with 

 their bill, or searching in the bogs. Their flesh is delicious and prized 

 highly. 



WOODS. Even at a comparatively early stage of the arts, man- 

 kind appears to have made use of the bright or variegated colors of 

 wood, to give beauty both to their dwellings and their furniture. The 

 temple built by king Solomon, was overlaid on the inside with boards 

 of cedar " All was cedar ; there w r as no stone seen." Among the most 

 ancient specimens of ornamental furniture that are to be met with, we 

 find that attempts have been made to heighten the effect by the con- 

 trast of various kinds of wood, Though both in the materials and in 

 the designs, these are inferior productions of modern art, many of the 

 cabinets which are still preserved, have much higher claims to notice 

 than their mere antiquity. In all these works, a veneer, or thin plate 

 of fancy wood, is laid down in glue upon a surface of a plainer de- 

 scription. The process is, of course, cheaper than if the whole were 

 made of the solid fancy wood. 



The beauty of fancy wood arises, in many sorts, from its being 

 cross-grained, or presenting the fibres endways or obliquely to the sur- 

 face. These different positions of the fibres, as well as their different 

 colors in grained woods, give a clouded and mottled variety to the sur- 

 face ; and, when some of the parts are partially transparent, as in the 

 case of fine mahogany, the surface gives out a play of different tints, 

 as the observer changes his place, or the light falls upon them, and, 

 consequently, is reflected at different angles. When mahogany was 

 first introduced, as a cabinet timber, it seems to have been in the dark- 

 colored, hard, and straight-grained trees, which are now used for chairs 

 and other articles, in which the solid timber is preferred ; and, on that 

 account, mahogany was not much used in combination with other 

 woods. When, however, its great value was known, the ease with 

 which it can be cut, the improvement that varnish gives to its colors, 

 the firmness with which it holds in glue, and the improvement which, 

 when properly taken care of, it gains in tirne, it was found that good 

 mahogany was much too valuable a timber for being used solid, and 

 it began to be employed as the staple timber in veneering. 



