THE BEAK. 29 



deep into moist earth, from whence they extract their food. 

 In this case strength is not requisite, and would have been 

 quite out of character with the slender neck of this family, 

 as well as unnecessary, for the purpose of collecting small 

 worms; but length was indispensable, and nature has pro- 

 vided accordingly. 



Woodcocks and Snipes are such shy birds, that their 

 modes of feeding can rarely be observed; but sometimes 

 opportunities have occurred which prove the truth of what 

 is here said. A couple of Snipes were, by means of a good 

 telescope, actually seen thus boring with their slender beaks 

 in soft mire for their food. They were feeding close to the 

 edge of a lake, pushing their bills into thin mud, by repeated 

 thrusts, quite up to the eyes, then drawing them back again 

 with great quickness, and every now and then shifting their 

 ground a little. 



The bills of Ducks and similar birds, which live partly by 

 suction, and partly on small fish or aquatic animals, merit 

 particular notice from their peculiar adaptation to that office ; 

 the inside of them, towards the edge, being thickly set with 

 rows or lines of short, strong, sharp-pointed prickles. These 

 might be mistaken for teeth : this, however, is not their 

 purpose, which is merely to act as a sort of filter. Observe 

 a Duck in a brook, crushing, with that quick motion of his 

 head, soft weeds and other substances mixed with the mud. 

 The operation is thus carried on : by plunging its flat bill 

 into the oozy pulp, the finer portion is sucked up through 

 these tooth-like lines ; what it chooses is retained, the rest 

 being thrown out and washed away by the rapid clattering 

 motion of the flat bill. As a further help, enabling them to 

 judge what is an agreeable and proper food, these birds are 

 furnished with an additional supply of delicate nerves, extend- 

 ing to the very end of the beak ; hence it has been con- 

 jectured that they have some sense of taste, of which birds 

 in general are supposed to be destitute. That this is the 

 use for which these additional nerves is designed, may be 

 further gathered from the accurate examinations of a bill, 

 much resembling a Duck's, belonging to one of the most 



