3o8 The American Woodcock 



thrusting his bill deep into the mess, feeling for 

 the prey with the wonderfully sensitive and flexi- 

 ble tip of the upper mandible, and grasping it 

 without the slightest trouble. When his bill was 

 buried to almost its entire length, he frequently 

 seemed to be sucking, as sometimes a minute 

 bubble would appear at the angle of his mouth. 

 So far as could be observed, he sucked down 

 some worms and drew others entirely from the 

 mud and then swallowed them. Occasionally, he 

 would give his bill a quick flirt to one side and 

 reject one of those yellow-bellied, red-ringed 

 worms, so abundant about old manure-piles. I 

 never intentionally offered him one of those 

 worms, but boys frequently brought both sorts 

 in the one can. As I never saw him eat one of 

 them, and never saw him reject a true garden 

 worm, I concluded that he did not fancy the 

 manure brand of fare. Yet I have often, at 

 night, flushed a cock from a damp spot near the 

 stable, where the ringed, evil-smelling worms 

 were amazingly plentiful. Possibly they are oc- 

 casionally eaten, but I suspect that a few garden 

 worms in the same spot were the real attraction. 



An intelligent examination of a woodcock will 

 prove him to be a most interesting example of 

 nature's wisdom in planning to meet certain con- 

 ditions. His chief food is angleworms, for which 

 he must do much probing and feeling in the soft 



