164 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



Instinct of Birds — The "Woodcock carrying her young — Herons 

 —Water-ousel— Nest of Golden-eye Duck ; Habits of Birds 

 —Talons of Falcons and Hawks— Stuffed Birds— Plumage, 

 etc., of Owls — The Osprey and Sea Swallow — Manner of 

 Fishing — Carrion -feeding Birds — Manner of finding their 

 Food — The Eagle — Sense of Smell in Birds— In Ducks and 

 Geese — Power of communicating with each other — Notes of 

 alarm — A few words respecting destroying Hawks, etc. — 

 Colour of Birds adapted to concealment — Instinct of Birds 

 finding Food — Red-deer — Tame Roebuck. 



Many people doubt the fact of the woodcock carry- 

 ing her young from the wood to the swamp in 

 her feet, and certainly the claws of a woodcock 

 appear to be little adapted to grasping and carrying 

 a heavy substance ; yet such is most undoubtedly 

 the case. Regularly as the evening comes on, 

 many woodcocks carry their young ones down to 

 the soft feeding-grounds, and bring them back again 

 to the shelter of the woods before daylight, where 

 they remain during the whole day. I myself have 

 never happened to see the woodcocks in the act of 

 returning, but I have often seen them going down 

 to the swamps in the evening, carrying their young 

 with them. Indeed it is quite evident that they 



