THE BEAK. 
33 
which we shall notice when we come to speak of 
these birds. 
Again, the long tapering hill of the Snipe and 
Woodcock tribe is the precise instrument wanted, 
for penetrating deep into moist earth, from whence 
they extract their food. In this case, strength is not 
requisite, and would have been quite out of character 
with the slender neck of this family, as well as unne- 
cessary, for the purpose of collecting small worms ; 
but length was indispensable, and nature has provided 
accordingly. 
Woodcocks and Snipes are such shy birds, that 
their modes of feeding can rarely be observed; but 
sometimes opportunities have occurred which prove 
the truth of what is here said. A couple of Snipes 
were, by means of a good telescope, actually seen 
thus boring with their slender beaks in soft mire 
for their food. They were feeding close to the edge 
of a lake, pushing their bills into the thin mud, by 
repeated thrusts, quite up to the eyes, then drawing 
them back again with great quickness, and every now 
and then shifting their ground a little. 
The bills of Ducks and similar birds, which live 
partly by suction, and partly on small fish or aquatic 
animals, merit particular notice from their peculiar 
adaptation to that office. The inside of them, towards 
the edge, being thickly set with rows or lines of short, 
strong, sharp-pointed prickles. These might be mis- 
taken for teeth ; this, however, is not their purpose, 
which is merely to act as a sort of filter. Observe a 
duck in a brook, crushing, with that quick motion of 
his head, soft weeds and other substances mixed 
with the mud. The operation is thus carried on : by 
VOL. i. D 
