CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 



between its mandibles, and would retain one occasionally for a consider- 

 able time in its bill, seizing- it in a very adroit manner, and contriving 

 to hold it straight along its bill's whole length. In the course of a few 

 days it fed itself, consuming a most amazing quantity of earth-worms, 

 the major portion of which it ate by night ; but this being rather 

 troublesome food to procure, I endeavoured to get it to feed on bread 

 and milk, by putting into it some cleanly washed worms; but was 

 unsuccessful, though Montagu succeeded thus with the woodcock. It 

 soon picked out the worms, and I have reason to believe, from the 

 appearance of a pan of water to which it had access, washed every one 

 of them before swallowing it, as a curlew did, mentioned by Montagu. 

 I kept it for some days on short commons, putting only about a dozen 

 worms into its mess, in hopes that it would soon be forced to take to 

 the bread and milk, but all to no purpose ; it became so much reduced 

 in three days that I was compelled to desist, and to furnish it again 

 with its natural aliment, worms, which, in a very short space of time, 

 restored it to its previous good condition. I allowed it the range of a 

 small garden, and when first suffered to remain loose, it would frequently, 

 as may be supposed, endeavour to fly away ; at such times it would run 

 about spreading its tail in a very singular manner, the caudal feathers 

 being expanded as widely as possible, and the whitish last feather on 

 each side showing very conspicuously ; but not spread horizontally, in 

 the manner of the American redstart of Wilson (Setophaga ruticilla, 

 Swain), or the Swedish blue breast (Pandicilla suecica, Mihi), but 

 turned up perpendicularly, that is to say, on one side of the bird the 

 upper surface only could be seen, on the other side only the under 

 part, appearing, indeed, on a superficial view, like the tail of a common 

 barn-door hen ; it never thus placed its tail excepting when it 

 intended to spring up into the air, but would then run swiftly along, 

 first turning one side of it uppermost, then the other, thus shifting it 

 every two or three yards, until it made a sudden spring, with the 

 intention of flying away. It ran with great celerity ; and, what is sin- 

 gular, would often when loose in the garden run into a cage for protec- 

 tion, in which it had at first been confined. I know of no writer who 

 has mentioned the snipe's singular mode of spreading the tail j but Mr. 

 Selby observes, in his most admirable description of the woodcock, that 

 that species "just before rising, upon being^disturbed, or when running, 

 jerks its tail upwards, partly expanding it, and fully showing the white 

 that distinguishes the under surface of the tips of the tail feathers." 

 It is by means of this extreme mobility of the tail that these birds are 



