and the Maritime Provinces. 



105 



being clothed with a grayish-yellow down, which is marked with brownish 

 stripes, and as they move about their long bills almost seem too heavy for 

 their little bodies. They thrive and grow apace, however, and are fledged 

 and able to fly when a month old. 



The woodcock is generally nocturnal in its habits, seeking the shelter 

 of thick shrubbery during the day, and beginning to move about in search 

 of food at early twilight. It subsists upon worms, larva; and insects, which 

 it obtains by probing with its long bill in the moist earth, and the number 

 of these required for its daily sustenance is, according to Audubon, equal 

 to the bird's own weight. 



Woodcock Feeding. 



While its food is generally sought in the swamps and moist places in 

 the woods, the woodcock does not limit its foraging to such localities, but 

 in its nocturnal rambles it visits cornfields, swale lands and meadows. I 

 have often found the " borings " made by its bill in potato and turnip 

 fields, and in a period of drought I once saw the bird searching for worms 

 in the mud about a sinkspout, within a few rods of a dwelling house. 



In feeding, the woodcock thrusts its bill into the moist earth, draws 

 out its prey, and raising its bill into the air, it extends upon it the whole 

 length of the worm, and swallows it quickly and without any apparent 

 action of the jaws. 



In its home, in the thickest coverts, the woodcock is generally a some- 

 what difficult bird to shoot, particularly late in the season, when it is lusty 

 and strong of wing. Its flight is often very rapid, and as it does not always 

 take a direct course, but suddenly darts sideways through the foliage every 

 few yards, it often requires a practised hand to bring it down. 



