THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 



{Philohela minor.) 



The Woodcock is the most notable of 

 game birds. "It is a game bird par ex- 

 cellence." It may also be called the "owl 

 among snipes," for it feeds during the 

 night hours and never flies during the 

 day unless forced to do so by some in- 

 truder on its domain. During the day- 

 light hours it remains quietly in the 

 depths of marshy thickets or in fields of 

 rank grass. Its range covers the whole 

 of eastern North America from the 

 British Provinces southward to the Gulf 

 of Mexico. It breeds more or less com- 

 monly throughout its range, and in the 

 winter passes southward only as far as 

 the regions of non-frozen earth. This 

 migration is necessary, for the Woodcock 

 seeks its food in the soft earth of marshy 

 grounds and wet meadows. 



The W^oodcock's method of obtaining 

 its food has given it the rather uncouth 

 name, Bog-sucker. Its chief diet con- 

 sists of earthworms, which are obtained 

 by pushing nearly or quite the whole 

 length of its bill into the soft earth. 

 Whether the bird locates the worm by the 

 sense of smell or by some kind of instinct 

 is not known. It does, however, obtain 

 a large number of angleworms during a 

 single night, and it would hardly seem 

 possible to do this were its bill-thrusts 

 made at random. The tip of the bill is 

 large and sensitive, and the end of the 

 upper mandible is capable of action 

 which is quite independent of that of 

 lower. This characteristic is of great 



assistance to the bird in seizing the worm 

 and in extracting it from the earth. Its 

 eyes are large and set far back on the 

 head where they would be of little service 

 in its search for food, but are very useful 

 in detecting a distant enemy. Late in 

 the season, when the ground of its favor- 

 ite resorts is dried, the Woodcock seeks 

 new pastures on the banks of streams, 

 timbered hillsides, grassy meadows and 

 even cornfields. Here it hunts for insect 

 food under fallen leaves or under clods 

 of earth. "When surprised, the Wood- 

 cock rises perpendicularly to the tops of 

 surrounding bushes, then makes off at 

 an angle with a rather weak, unsteady 

 Might, only to drop quickly to cover and 

 run rapidly along the ground and out of 

 sight." 



When under the cover of underbrush 

 and among the dried leaves, the Wood- 

 cock is seen with difficulty, for their 

 colors harmonize perfectly with their 

 environment. It nests on the ground, the 

 eggs being laid upon a mass of leaves 

 very loosely thrown together. Though 

 the young desert the nest as soon as 

 hatched, they remain with their mother 

 and are cared for by her for about four 

 weeks. The parent is very solicitous for 

 their welfare. It is said by reliable ob- 

 servers that when she suspects the pres- 

 ence of danger, she will remove the 

 young to a place of safety by carrying 

 them, one at a time, clasped between her 

 thighs. 



THE PASSING OF THE WOODCOCK 



Some time ago the United States 

 Department of Agriculture issued a 

 pamphlet in which it was stated that the 

 Woodcock is one of our vanishing birds. 

 It is to be hoped that the result of this 

 publication, as well as other efforts to 

 keep the conditions before the public, 

 will help avert such an undesirable result. 



Should the Woodcock disappear, he 



would not be greatly missed by the gen- 

 eral public, for he is a bird that does not 

 cut much figure in the general conscious- 

 ness. He is not a part of our scenery as 

 the robin and bluebird (and house-spar- 

 row) are, and he would not leave a lone- 

 some silence behind him — a feeling of 

 something missing from the summer air, 

 as would be experienced if the quail 



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