FERN-CLAD HILLS 
191 
by them in the mnd. Although it was soft, very 
few footmarks were left; but the place was covered 
with numberless small holes made by their bills, 
and forming little groups, as if made by the 
individual birds separately. Of these impressions 
very many were mere hollows not larger than those 
on a thimble, and not half a twelfth of an inch 
deep; others scarcely perceptible, while a few were 
larger, extended to a depth of two-twelfths , and 
here and there one or two to the depth of nearly 
half an inch. On scraping the mud I could 
perceive no worms or shells. It is thus clear that 
they search by gently tapping, and it appears that 
they discover the object of their search rather by 
the kind of resistance which it yields than by touch 
like that of the human skin .—British Birds , vol. 
iv., p. 210. 
20. —The Common Snipe. 
Beautiful are those green woods that hang upon 
the craggy sides of the fern-clad hills, where the 
heath-fowl threads its way among the tufts of 
brown heath, and the cuckoo sings his ever-pleasing 
notes as he balances himself on the grey stone, 
vibrating his fan-like tail. Now I listen to the 
simple song of the mountain blackbird, warbled by 
the quiet lake that spreads its glittering bosom to 
the sun, winding far away among the mountains, 
amid whose rocky glens wander the wild deer, 
