THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
3 
The Woodcock. 
T HE woodcock (Philoliela minor) 
is migratory, universally dis¬ 
tributed throughout the coun¬ 
try. It commences to breed in 
March in the Northern States, but 
much earlier in the South. The nest, 
which is formed of dry leaves and 
gr f ajss, is placed on the ground in some 
secluded part of the woods. The aver- 
agt^number of eggs is four; smooth, of 
j ^y color, spotted thickly with dark 
brown. When first hatched the young 
are very comical looking things, cov¬ 
ered with dovVn of a yellowish color, 
striped and marked with dark brown or 
black and with a bill entirely out of 
proportion to their size. 
It is not addicted to wading, and al¬ 
ways resorts to rivulets and margins of 
muddy ground, never seeking its food 
in soft marshes. It obtains its food by 
probing the damp or moist earth with 
its long bill, and in this way procuring 
the worms upon which it feeds, swallow¬ 
ing great numbers of them. 
In the fall the bird is generally found 
upon the hill-sides. When in such lo¬ 
calities they procure their food by turn¬ 
ing over the dead leaves and picking 
up the worms which have taken refuge 
there. 
The eye of the woodcock, which is 
very large, bright a^nd beautiful, is 
placed high upon the head, a wise pro¬ 
vision, for the bird when feeding thrusts 
its bill into the ground up to the nostrils. 
The fore part of the head is grayish; 
upper part has two transverse bars of 
blackish and two others of the same 
color, but narrower, on the occiput; 
these last separated by light red; a line 
from the bill to the eye, and one below 
the eye, brownish black. 
The entire upper parts are variegated 
with ash gray, rufous, yellowish and 
black. Tail feathers brownish black, 
tipped with gray and mottkd with red 
on their outer edges. Under parts 
rufous, brighter on the s : desand under 
the wings; under tail coverts tipped 
with white. Bill yellowish brown, 
darker toward the end. Feet flesh 
color. 
— M. Goodman. 
A Plant Octopus. 
Carnivorous plants are usually small, 
but European journals have been giving 
accounts of one of gigantic size and 
great power which has been discovered 
by Dunstan on the shores of Lake Nic¬ 
aragua. As this naturalist was walking 
with his dog he was attracted by cries 
of pain from the latter, and, hastening 
to the rescue, he found the animal held 
by three black, sticky bands, which had 
chafed the skin to bleeding. These 
bands were branches of a new carniv¬ 
orous plant, which Dunstan calls the 
•land octopus.” The branches are 
flexible, polished, black, without 
leaves, secreting a viscous fluid and 
furnished with a great number of suck¬ 
ers by which, they attach themselves to 
their victims. It might almost be be¬ 
lieved to be an octopus transformed into 
a plant, from vrhich the dog was re¬ 
leased with great difficulty and severe 
injury to the hands. Among the few 
facts learned was that the fetid odor 
of the sticky liquid serves to attract 
prey, and it was also observed that the 
“land octopus,” like other carnivorous 
plants, abandons its victims after suck¬ 
ing out the nutritive elements. To the 
natives this strange plant is known as 
“the Devil's noose.” 
Thorough investigation in India has 
finally proven that strychnine is not an 
antidote against snake poison. 
