16 
I'l kTHKR Oi’.SKKVATIOXS OX MIXXI-LSOTA I5IRDS: 
fartlier north when conditions are favoral)le. ddiis bird is such a 
o'ood friend of the agriculturist that it deserves protection al- 
though its tine qualities as a table bird make it an object of pur- 
suit on the part of hunters. Potato hugs and even chinch bugs 
have been found in its crop and grassho])])ers as well as manv 
other varieties of injurious insects coinjH'ise a large proportion of 
its hill of fare. 
THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 
A somewhat rare bird in Minnesota, frequenting the low, 
wooded, water-courses and generally resorting to the higher lands 
only during the night. This beautiful game bird is pre-eminently 
a night-flier and a night-feeder. Its large eyes, placed well toward 
the top of its head, are not only enabled to gain impressions from 
above, when the bird’s soft beak is buried in the mud, but also 
are in a ])osition to receive all available light. When flushed, the 
bird rises softly, directly upward until clear of the brush and then 
pauses an instant before starting away from the intruder. Their 
four buff-colored eggs spotted and blotched with brown, are laid 
on leaves on the ground in an excuse for a nest. This bird has no 
economic bearing upon agriculture. It is ])rotected in Minnesota 
until 1918. 
