64 BIRD PARADISE 



bird commissary is ! Wherever the fellow stops 

 on his flight there the storehouse is and there tihe 

 food is all prepared for his use. " They toil not, 

 neither do they spin," but the feast is ever spread 

 for them and they are always ready for it. 



I hear occasionally the whistling flight of the 

 woodcock. Just at the northern gate of the old 

 swamp seems to be a favorite spot for their daily 

 gatherings. As they depend largely on the sense 

 of touch in selecting their food they can do much 

 of their hunting for it in the night. I often see 

 in the soft mud where they have been busy prob- 

 ing for worms and grubs. The long bill is the 

 member used in the search. The end is keenly 

 sensitive and the kind of food is determined 

 easily by the sense of touch. In my boyhood we 

 often saw the fellows early in the morning wing- 

 ing their way to the corn-fields, where they pro- 

 cured a part of their food. The nestlings, like 

 the young of the partridge, find their way out of 

 the nest very soon after they are hatched. The 

 families are usually large, taxing the parent birds 

 heavily in caring for them. The woodcock uses 

 two or three call notes, sometimes uttering them 

 in succession after the pattern of a song. The 



