16 



FURTHER (}]!SI>;R\ATI().\S ON MINNESOTA BIRDS I 



farther north when conditions are favorable. This bird is such a 

 good friend of the agriculturist that it deserves protection al- 

 though its fine qualities as a ta1)le bird make it an object of pur- 

 suit on the part of liunters. Potato bugs and even chinch bugs 

 have been found in its crop and grasshoppers as w^ell as many 

 other varieties of injurious insects compose a large proportion of 

 its bill of fare. 



THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 



A somewhat rare bird in Minnesota, frequenting the low, 

 wooded, water-courses and generally resorting to the higher lands 

 only during the night. This beautiful game bird is pre-eminently 

 a night-flier and a night-feeder. Its large eyes, placed well toward 

 the top of its head, are not only ena1>led to gain impressions from 

 above, when the bird's soft l)eak is l)uried in the mud, but also 

 are in a position to receive all availaljle light. When flushed, the 

 bird rises softly, directly upward until clear of the brush and then 

 pauses an instant before starting awa}- from the intruder. Their 

 four bufT-colored eggs spotted and blotched with brown, are laid 

 on leaves on the ground in an excuse for a nest. This bird has no 

 economic bearing upon agriculture. It is ])rotected in Minnesota 

 until 1918. 



