164 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI. 



CHAPTP]R XXXI. 



Instinct of Birds — The Woodcock carrying her young — Herons 



— \\ater-Ousel — Nest of Golden-Eye Duck — Habits of Birds 



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

 &c. 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, 

 &c. — Colour of Birds adapted to concealment — Instinct of 

 Birds finding Food — Red Deer — Tame lioebuck. 



Many people doubt the fact of the woodcock car- 

 rying 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 



