THE WOODCOCK. 173 



of these interesting birds, in the aviary of St. Ildephonso, in 

 Spain. 



"There was," says Mr. Bowles, "a fountain perpetually flowing 

 to keep the ground moist, and trees planted for the same purpose ; 

 fresh sod was brought, the richest in worms that could be found. 

 In vain did the worms seek concealment when the woodcock was 

 hungry ; it discovered them by the smell, stuck its bill into the 

 ground, but never higher than the nostrils, drew them out singly, 

 and, raising its bill into the air, it extended upon it the entire 

 length of the worm, and in this way swallowed it smoothly, with- 

 out any action of the jaws. The whole operation was performed 

 in an instant, and the motion of the woodcock was so equal and 

 imperceptible that it seemed doing nothing. It never missed its 

 aim : for this reason, and because it never plunged its bill beyond 

 the orifice of the nostrils, I concluded that smell was what directed 

 it in search of food." 



With the foregoing quotation we will dismiss the subject, trust- 

 ing that some of our friends may yet enlighten us if they should 

 ever catch a woodcock engaged in these evolutions. 



THE BILL. 



The bill of the woodcock is well supplied with nerves, and is so 

 extremely sensitive to the touch that few worms can hope to 

 escape its searching explorations, if within two or three inches of 

 the surface of the soft earth into which they delight so much to 

 bore. Woodcocks are very greedy, or rather we should say vora- 

 cious, birds, and are both vexatious and diflBcult to keep in a state 

 of captivity, owing to the trouble consequent upon obtaining a 

 sufficiency of their usual food for them. An English writer ob- 

 serves of this bird: — "A woodcock in our menagerie very soon 

 discovered and drew forth every worm in the ground, which was 

 dug up to enable him to bore ; and worms put into a large garden- 

 pot, covered with earth five or six inches deep, are always cleared 

 by the next morning, without one being left. The enormous quan- 

 tity of worms that these birds eat is scarcely credible; indeed, it 



