The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-02-19
woopcOCKS AND WORMS.
C. rious Discovery Made by an obscrvan
Naturalist

C. rious Discovery Made by an obscrTans
Naturalist
When the moon arose I took po-
sition near one Of the moist places,
where the borsngs were the freshest
and most plentiful, and awaited de'
yelopments. For long time the
bright light of the moon fell upon
the spot / wished to observe, ana 1
could see everything with the utmost
plainness. At about s O'Clock wood
cock dropped down silently beside the
brook
Presently another birdwalked oR
of the shadow and joined it. Both
began to sbore" for worms, an oper.
alton had never seen before, and Q
curious performance it was. Inc
birds would rest their bills upon the
mud and stand in this position for
several seconds, as if listening. Then
with a sudden swift movement they
would drive the bill its entire length
into the soil, hold it so for second,
and then as quickly withdraw it,
writes correspondent Of the Forest
and Stream. Though I watched the
birds carefully with the glass | coulo
not detect the presence Of worm IL
their bills when they were With
drawn.
But the subsequent process gave
me the clew tc their method OF feed.
inc. After having bored over con-
siderable piece Of grouad-a square
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.
NV intense curiosity to know the pos
sible utility of this process was at
length gratifed by seeing a worm
crawl, half length, from one OF the
| borings, when it was lmmedlatlY
| pounced upon and devoured by one
I Of the woOdcock. Presently another
worm made its appearance, and so on
till the two woodcock had deVoured
as many as d dozen OF them. Then
the "ve n" seemed exhausted, ano
the birds took their leave.
I have subsequently studied the
philosophy 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 sharp
ened 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 stick for a
few minutes, you will find that the
worms will come to the surface and
that they will come up through thu
holes which you have made.
1 account for it by the supposition
that the tapping Of the stick some
how affects the worms the same a:
rain, and it is a well-known fact thai
worms come to the surface Of the
ground when it rains
The antics of the woodcocks attel
they had made their borings, then,
were simply mimetic, and intended
TO delude worms into the belief that
it was raining in the upper world.
The worms being deceived, came uE
and we're devoured. All this may
seem ridiculous but If 1t is not true,
| will some naturalist please state how
a woodcock can grasp and devoT a
worm when its bill is confined in
solid, tight.htting tunnel Of soil, and
also how it is enabled to know the
exact spot where it may sink it's bill
and strike the worm? and further,
of all those Who have seen "a wood
cock .feeding, how many ever saw il
withdraw a worm from the grounf
with its bills