102 BEYOND THE PASTURE BARS 



the woodcock his feeble-minded, foolish expres- 

 sion. 



Yet it is neither foolishness with the woodcock 

 nor wisdom with the owl, but merely beaks and 

 eyes. With eyes to the front and a beak made for 

 spectacles, the owl looks very wise indeed. The 

 woodcock's eyes are at the rear and in the top of 

 his head. If he wore glasses, they might rest on 

 the back of his neck! And how would anybody 

 look with spectacles upon the back of his neck ? 



This position for the bird's eyes, however, is 

 a convenient one. He really needs to see out of 

 the top of his head a part of the time. His food 

 is largely angleworms. In order that he may 

 catch these, nature provides him a three-inch 

 probe for a bill. Then, for his safety and com- 

 fort when sounding with his probe in the mud for 

 worms, nature puts his eyes up on the top of his 

 head, just as a clam-digger rolls up his sleeves in 

 order to keep them out of the mud. Only the 

 woodcock's eyes have to stay up on the back of his 

 head all the time, whereas the clam-digger can 

 roll his sleeves down. 



In the bare, damp spots among the alders and 

 along the edge of the corn-field, soon after Wood- 

 cock arrived, I found his borings groups of a 



