. . night. Those who know how andwhere to look for him are conscious of his presence whenthey visit the willow patches along lakesides or trampthrough the hazel, which leads down to a springy spot. Inthese places the woodcock, or owl among snipe, may befound probing the soil with his long, sensitive, flexible feels the contact with a juicy worm, and cleverly movesthe upper mandible, thus extracting the morsel from thesoil. The eyes are placed far back on the head, giving thebird great visionary power while probing. Woodcocks
. . night. Those who know how andwhere to look for him are conscious of his presence whenthey visit the willow patches along lakesides or trampthrough the hazel, which leads down to a springy spot. Inthese places the woodcock, or owl among snipe, may befound probing the soil with his long, sensitive, flexible feels the contact with a juicy worm, and cleverly movesthe upper mandible, thus extracting the morsel from thesoil. The eyes are placed far back on the head, giving thebird great visionary power while probing. Woodcocks are gluttons, consuming twice their ownweight in twenty-four hours. Another habit is that of beat-ing the earth with their feet, sounding like the patter ofrain. This noise brings the earth worms to the surface,where they are captured. The song-flight of the woodcock begins shortly after hisarrival from the South and may be heard well into the warmsummer nights of June, when the bogs are so infested withmosquitoes as to make life unbearable. The proper time to. 35/ , J ( SHORE BIRDS 123 see the woodcock perform is during the cool nights of Aprilwhen the birds are breeding. I visit the moist places immediately after sunset, whereduring the daytime I have flushed woodcock or observedperforations among the soft leaves. Presently a short nasalcall comes from the underbrush. It is suggestive of thenighthawks call. After locating the bush under which thespeaking takes place, there is a rustle of wings and abird rises in circles. The wings beat rapidly, but the flightseems slow and laborious, as with legs dangling and tailspread, the creature presents an ungainly appearance. Dur-ing the ascent a continuous warble seems to indicate thatthe object which we see in the dim twilight is in a fit ofecstasy. Scarcely can we attribute this melodious outpourto such a droll-looking bird as the woodcock. The song-ster has reached a height of several hundred feet, and theliquid notes become more i
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