288 WOODCOCK AND SNIPE 



contrive to find congenial harbourage amid low scrub and tussocks of 

 grass, or heather and bracken on high ground, especially if there be 

 springs in the neighbourhood, for these, so long as they remain open, 

 afford a never-failing food-supply. But wherever it elects to shelter, 

 there it remains during the day, venturing abroad to feed only as the 

 light begins to fail. 



That this bird is crepuscular in its habits might be at once 

 inferred from the great size of the eye. Nevertheless feeding during 

 dark nights is difficult. Under such conditions, indeed, a sufficiency 

 of food is never obtained, thus necessitating an attempt to stay the 

 pangs of hunger long before the usual feeding time. Small spiders, 

 and insects found among the dead leaves, or amid short grass and 

 heather stems, doubtless make but a poor substitute for a meal, but 

 they cannot be despised by a hungry bird. On a light night, provided 

 there be no frost, the bird fares sumptuously, for there is then no 

 difficulty in procuring an abundance of worms, which seem to be the 

 favourite and staple element of its diet. One can hardly suppose, by 

 the way, that this fact is realised by those who profess a liking for 

 woodcock cooked with the " trail " : they live apparently in a state 

 of blissful ignorance of the fact that woodcock and snipe do not, as 

 our forefathers fondly believed, live on " suction " ! But to return to 

 the diet of worms. To obtain this luscious meat the woodcock 

 occasionally poaches in the preserves of the snipe ; but, as a rule, 

 the feeding-grounds do not coincide. The woodcock rather prefers 

 springs, often on high ground, and damp spots in woods, while ditches 

 and hedgerows are also explored. Its method of capturing its prey is 

 exactly the same as that of the snipe, the long, tapering, and highly 

 sensitive beak being thrust into the soft ground like a probe. Often, 

 before the thrust is made, the bird stamps with its feet, and turns the 

 head sideways, after the fashion of a thrush, to catch the low grating 

 sound caused by the movement of the bristles of the worm against the 

 sides of its burrow. Having located its prey, the fateful thrust is 

 made and the victim drawn out. Not always, however, does success 



