The American H^oodcock 307 



as they were termed, still within the body. This 

 " trail " was esteemed a great delicacy. It looks 

 like a snarl of whitish twine, and when the epi- 

 cure brings it to light, it usually is accompanied 

 by a stomach-like pouch, which almost invariably 

 contains more or less fine sand, or gritty earth. 

 Finding this and nothing else, and having seen 

 the marks, "borings," left by the bird's bill 

 in the mud, and the dried mud upon the bill 

 itself, the wise men of old promptly decided that 

 the bird fed upon mud, and mud of peculiar 

 properties, inasmuch as it imparted to the flesh 

 a most acceptable delicacy and richness. The 

 earthy matter, of course, had been inside the 

 worms, which had disappeared, owing to rapid 

 digestion. 



The fact of the matter is that the cock not only 

 eats worms, but stows away an astonishing quan- 

 tity of them. I have not only seen a big worm 

 escaping from the throat of a bird just killed, but 

 I have " dug bait " for a tame woodcock, who was 

 as exorbitant in his demands as any old man 

 going fishing. When feeding the bird referred 

 to, I placed a good handful of worms on some 

 black loam which covered the bottom of an earth- 

 enware dish. An inch or so of loam was sprin- 

 kled over the worms, a little water splashed over 

 the whole, and then Master P. minor was allowed 

 to manage for himself. This he cleverly did, by 



