WOODCOCK. 43 



The food generally found in the stomach of the Wood- 

 cock, consists of the remains of worms, insects and their 

 larvae, which the bird obtains from under decayed foliage, 

 among roots, and in springy bogs, and also the fibres of roots 

 and bog-plants, but whether these are taken inadvertently with 

 the insects, or sought for with equal relish, cannot be decided. 

 In the darkness of the night the Woodcock visits also the 

 meadows where cattle feed, provided these are close to their 

 natural cover. 



The manner in which the Woodcock obtains its food is by 

 turning the decayed matter over with its beak, in lumps of 

 four or five inches in width, and these lumps are generally 

 found perfectly perforated by its beak. The well-informed 

 sportsman can consequently easily find the spot in a wood 

 where the Woodcock is in the habit of feeding, since other 

 birds, such as black-birds and thrushes, do not turn the 

 foliage over in lumps without perfectly pulling it to pieces, 

 neither do they perforate it. Moist boggy ground is in a 

 similar manner bored into, hole beside hole, in its search for 

 worms and bog insects. 



The Woodcock is capable of being kept in confine- 

 ment, and must be fed on worms and bread-and-milk. 



The breeding of this species takes place in most parts of 

 north and central Europe, but more particularly in mountain 

 forests, that skirt valleys and border rivers. In May the 

 female seeks a retired spot among moss and long grasses 

 under the shelter of a small bush, or among roots and bram- 

 bles ; she there scratches a hole in the ground, lines it some- 

 times with a few grasses, at others not at all, and deposits 

 her four eggs in it, which are in size, shape, and colouring as 

 represented in our Plate. It requires seventeen days incuba- 

 tion to hatch the eggs, during which time the bird sits very 

 close. The young run out of the nest as soon as hatched, 



