310 The American Woodcock 



muddy spots, the cock also is a surface feeder, 

 both on damp and almost dry ground. Being 

 chiefly nocturnal in his habits, and given to 

 dozing the long days through, snug-hid in the 

 velvet shade of cool lush growths, he often flies 

 far through the dusk from the day cover to the 

 feeding ground. 



More frequently than most people imagine, his 

 explorations extend to the hearts of large towns 

 and cities, where trim gardens and broad lawns 

 form attractive hunting grounds. It is no un- 

 common thing for some early-rising citizen to 

 find a dead or wing-broken cock upon the lawn 

 or street walk. Birds so found have fouled a 

 wire while speeding to or from some garden rich 

 in worms. The reason for the cock's visits to 

 town is the same which caused some historic old 

 cocks to put on their thinking-caps, namely, the 

 diet of worms. Rich, well-tended gardens furnish 

 what Kipling calls " good hunting," and this the 

 outlying cock in some mysterious manner knows. 

 He also knows that it is one of the customs of 

 the country to have heavy dews fall some nights, 

 while it also is a custom of the citizens of the 

 country to sprinkle their lawns during that easy 

 period after dinner when the sun has ceased from 

 scorching, and the pleasure, or business weary 

 may best enjoy the strenuous life of him who 

 holds the markets of the metropolis in one hand 



