ight well be excused in anyone
who had watched the bird's manner of digging for its food in the ooze.
The long bill is exceedingly sensitive at the tip, and in all
probability, by the aid of a tactile sense more highly developed than
any other in our acquaintance, this organ conveys to its owner the
whereabouts of worms wriggling silently down out of harm's way. On first
reaching Britain, the woodcock remains for a few days on the seashore to
recover from its crossing, and at this time of rest it trips over the
wet sand, generally in the gloaming, and picks up shrimps and such other
soft food as is uncovered between tidal marks. It is not among the
easiest of birds to keep for any length of time in captivity, but if due
attention be paid to its somewhat difficult requirements in the way of
suitable food, success is not unattainable. On the whole, bread and milk
has been found the best artificial substitute for its natural diet. With
the _kiwi_ of New Zealand, a bird not even distantly related to the
woodcock, and a cousin rather of the ostrich, but equipped with much the
same kind of bill as the subject of these remarks, an even closer
imitation of the natural food has been found possible in menageries.
The bill of the _kiwi_, which has the nostrils close to the tip, is even
more sensitive than that of the woodcock and is employed in very similar
fashion. At Regent's Park the keeper supplies the bird with fresh worms
so long as the ground is soft enough for spade-work. They are left in a
pan, and the _kiwi_ eats them during the night. In winter, however, when
worms are not only hard to come by in sufficient quantity but also
frost-bitten and in poor condition, an efficient substitute is found in
shredded fillet steak, which, whether it accepts it for worms or not,
the New Zealander devours with the same relish.

When a woodcock lies motionless among dead leaves, it is one of the most
striking illustrations of protective colouring to be found anywhere.
Time and again the sportsman all but treads on one, which is betrayed
only by its large bright eye. There are men who, in their eagerness to
add it to the bag, do not hesitate in such circumstances to shoot a
woodcock on the ground, but a man so fond of ground game should
certainly be refused a game licence and should be allowed to shoot
nothing but rabbits.

MARCH

THE WOODPIGEON

THE WOODPIGEON

The woodpigeon is many things to many men. To the farmer