The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-01-17
SMART wooococks
now the Wide Awake Birds Go Forth *
Capture Worms

~" inc "ioe-Awake Birds Go Forth Tn
Capture Worms.
when the moon rose / took a pos;.
ZION near one OF the moist places
where the behring's were freshest and
most plentiful. and awaited develop-
ments. For a long time the bright
llght of'the moon fell upon the spot I
wished to observe and 7 could Goa
every thing with the utmost plainness
At about eight o'clock a woodcock
dropped down silently beside the
brook. Presently another bird walked
Out OF the shadow and Joined it. Both
began to bore for worms. an operation
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 seconds. as
Ii listening. Then with sudden
swift movement they would drive the
Dill Its entire length in the soil, hold il
so for second and then as swiftly
withdraw it. Though l watched the
birds carefully with the glass | could
not detect the presence of a 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their bills when they were withdrawn.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 a considera-
bic 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. My intense
curiosity to know the possible utility
OF this process was at length gratifed
by seeing worm crawl, half length.
from one of the behring's, when it was
Immediately bounced upon and de-
voured by one of the woodcock. Pres
emily another worm made it's appear
ance. and so on until the woodcocks
had devOured as many as a dozen of
them. Then the vein seemed exhaust
ed. and the birds took their leave.
l have subsequently studied the phi.
losophy of this method of digging bait,
and have come to the conclusion that
certain birds are great deal wiser
than certain bipeds without feathers.
If you will take sharpenedostick and
drive it into the ground number of
times, in a spot which is prolific with
worms, and then tap on t1e ground
with the stick for a 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
hade. | account for it by the suppo-
sition that the tapping of the stick
somehow affects the worms the same
as the patter of rain, and it is WELL
known fact that worms come to tho
surface of the ground when it rains.
The antics of the woodcocks after they
had made their behring's, then, were
simply mimetic. and intended to delude
worms fltO the belief that it was rain
ing in the upper world. The worms.
being deceived. came UP aud were de-
voured. III this may seem ridiculous,
but. if it is not true. will some natural
ist please state how woodcOck can
grasp and devOur a worm when it's bill
is confined in solid, tight-itting tun-
mel of soil, and also how it is enabled
to know the exact spot where it may
sink its bill and strike the worm? And
further, of all those who have seen a
woodcock feeding, how MANY ever saw
it withdraw worm from the ground
with its bill?-Forest and Stream.