96 KRIDEll'S SPORTING ANECDOTES. 



his fast had been purposely protracted, he would 

 first industriously dibble the earth with his bill, 

 striking it rapidly a dozen times or more into the 

 cover, after the manner of a snipe ; then seating 

 himself on his breast, or more frequently stand- 

 ing in the middle of the box, he turned his large 

 full eyes intently on the holes thus bored, in a 

 very singular and knowing way. The first time 

 which we saw him in this attitude, we felt as- 

 sured of what w\is to follow, and that he was in- 

 stinctively acquainted with the habits of his prey. 

 Presently, after the lapse of a moment or two, 

 you observe his neck feathers slightly ruffle, and 

 that instant, with the quickness of thought, he 

 half turned his head, struck and devoured a worm. 

 In this manner he continued to feed, occasionally 

 shifting his ground a few steps and boring afresh, 

 until the whole space was thoroughly riddled and 

 not a single worm left. 



We have observed him thus employed for more 

 than half an hour at a time, and have no doubt 

 that he was materially assisted in his operations 

 by the movements of the worms, which evidently 

 worked up towards the holes bored in the soil. 

 Whether he was guided by the sense of smell or 

 not, we are not prepared to say. In fact, some 

 experiments which were made at the time in re- 



