The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-09-06
woopcocks AND WORMS.
They Initiated the Sound OF Rain Upon
the Ground and the Worms Came Up.

They Initiated the Sound OF Rain Upon
the Ground and the Worms Camc Up.
When the moon rose | took q po-
sition near one of the moist places,
where the behring's were freshest and
most plentiful, and awaited develop
ments. For long time The bright
light of the moon fell upon the spot
! wished to observe, and l could see
everything with the utmost plainness.
AT about 8 o'clock a woodcock drop
ped down silently beside the brook.
Presently another bird walked out of
the shadow and joined it, Both began
to bore" for worms, an operation l
had never seen before, and a curious
performance it was. The birds would
rest their bills upon the mud and
stand in this position for several sec
onds, as if listening. Then with sud-
den, swift movement, they would
drive the bill its entire length in the
soil, hold it 50 for second, and then
as swiftly withdraw it. Though /
watched the birds carefully with the
glass, | could not detect the presence
of worm in their bills when they
were withdrawn.
But the subsequent process gave me
the clew to their method of feeding
After having bored over q consider
able piece of ground-a square foot or
more-they proceeded to execute what
looked comically like war dance
upon the perforated territory. They
also occasionally tapped the ground
with the tips of their wings. Ny in
tense curiosity to know the possible
utility of this process was at length
gratitied by seeing u worm crawl, half
length, from one of the borings, when
it was Immediately bounced upon and
devoured by one of the woodcock.
Presently another worm made its APP
pearance, and so on until the wood
cocks had devoured as many as q doz-
EN- of them. Then the ''vein" seemed
exhausted, and the birds took their
leave.
l have subsequently studied the
philosophy Of this method of digging
bait, and have come to the conclusion
that certain birds are great deal wis
err than certain .bipeds without feath-
ers. If you will take a sharpened
stick and drive it into the ground a
number of times, in spot which is
prolific with worms, and then tap on
the ground with the stick for few
minutes, you will find that the worms
will come to the surface, and that they
will come up through the holes which
you have made. | account for it by
the supposition that the tapping of the
stick somehow affects the worms the
same as the patter of rain, and it is q
well known fact that worms come to
the surface of the ground when II
rains. The antics of the woodcocks
after they had made their borings.
then, were simply mimetic, and in
tended to delude worms into the be-
lief that it was raining in the upper
world. The worms, being deceived
came up and were devoured. All
this may seem ridiculous, but, if it is
not true, will some naturalist please
state how n woodcock can grasp and
devour q worm when its bill is con-
fined in solid, tight fitting tunnel of
soil, and also how it is enabled to
know the exact spot where it may
sink its bill and strike the worm2 And
further, of all those who have seen q
woodcocll feeding, how many ever
saw it withdraw worm from the
ground with its bill?-Forest and
Stream