EXPERIMENTAL BORINGS 41 



terms with shellfish in a very hard, chisel- tipped 

 bill, strikingly different from the soft weak bills 

 of the majority of the Snipe family (Charadrtidat) 

 to which they so obviously belong by the rest of 

 their structure. With this they can prise limpets 

 off the rocks, and adroitly chisel out the meat of 

 other shellfish, while at the same time the tool is 

 an efficient weapon as well, like the axe in the hands 

 of early man, and nest-robbing Gulls and Crows 

 find the Oyster-Catcher's home a difficult proposi- 

 tion to tackle. 



The most typical bills in the Snipe family have a 

 beautiful adaptation to the " Diet of Worms " ; 

 in the Woodcock and other typical Snipes the bill 

 is " overshot," that is to say, the upper jaw dis- 

 tinctly exceeds the lower in length, and has a 

 knobbed tip somewhat like the end of a crochet- 

 hook, behind which the lower jaw fits accurately, 

 so that the bill can be driven into the mud or soft 

 ground with ease. At the same time the bill is 

 so soft and sensitive that when the bird has been 

 dead a little time the end is seen to be pitted like 

 a thimble by the shrinkage of the covering skin 

 owing to the drying of the soft nerve-tissue within, 

 and the upper jaw is so flexible that the bill will 

 open at the tip and remain closed for the rest of its 

 length. Thus it can grip a worm when felt without 

 the necessity of being opened entirely, which would 

 be a difficult matter for a bird of this size ; the 

 worm when seized is, so to speak, nibbled up, not 

 dropped down the throat with a jerk of the uplifted 



