The American Woodcock 309 



ground they prefer. Hence his bill is shaped so 

 it will easily enter mud ; it is long, that it may go 

 far enough ; and it is equipped with a system of 

 nerves which make it (like the trunk of an ele- 

 phant) so sensitive that it can at once distinguish 

 between a real worm and a wormlike root, and 

 even between worms of different sorts. When 

 the bird is boring forehead-deep in the mud, he, 

 necessarily, is crouched. An ordinary bird, in this 

 position, either would have its eyes in direct con- 

 tact with the mud, or so near it that they would 

 be unable to see anything near by, especially any 

 prowling foe planning a rear attack. To avoid 

 this dangerous handicap, the cock's eyes are 

 placed near the upper rear corners of his squar- 

 ish skull, an arrangement which not only keeps 

 the eyes above the mud, but enables the bird to 

 see, without raising its head, whatever may be 

 transpiring above and behind. Furthermore, the 

 big, beautiful eyes are owl-like in their power to 

 utilize the faintest of lights, and thus enable the 

 cock to travel and feed at will in the damp, moon- 

 less nights when the wormy prey is upon or near 

 the surface of the ground. 



If the feeding of the woodcock could be care- 

 fully studied, we might learn some very interest- 

 ing things. This much I know. In addition to 

 the characteristic turning over of moist leaves 

 during March and early April, and the boring in 



