Isn't this American Woodcock, or indeed any member of the family, a
comical bird? His head is almost square, and what a remarkable eye he
has! It is a seeing eye, too, for he does not require light to enable
him to detect the food he seeks in the bogs. He has many names to
characterize him, such as Bog-sucker, Mud Snipe, Blind Snipe. His
greatest enemies are the pot hunters, who nevertheless have nothing but
praise to bestow upon him, his flesh is so exquisitely palatable. Even
those who deplore and deprecate the destruction of birds are not
unappreciative of his good qualities in this respect.
The Woodcock inhabits eastern North America, the north British
provinces, the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas, and breeds throughout the
range.
Night is the time when the Woodcock enjoys life. He never flies
voluntarily by day, but remains secluded in close and sheltered thickets
till twilight, when he seeks his favorite feeding places. His sight is
imperfect by day, but at night he readily secures his food, assisted
doubtless by an extraordinary sense of smell. His remarkably large and
handsome eye is too sensitive for the glare of the sun, and during the
greater part of the day he remains closely concealed in marshy thickets
or in rank grass. In the morning and evening twilight and on moonlight
nights, he seeks his food in open places. The early riser may find him
with ease, but the first glow from the rays of the morning sun will
cause his disappearance from the landscape.
He must be looked for in swamps, and in meadows with soft bottoms.
During very wet seasons he seeks higher land--usually cornfields--and
searches for food in the mellow plowed ground, where his presence is
indicated by holes made by his bill. In seasons of excessive drought the
Woodcock resorts in large numbers to tide water creeks and the banks of
fresh water rivers. So averse is he to an excess of water, that after
continued or very heavy rains he has been known suddenly to disappear
from widely extended tracts of country.
A curious habit of the Woodcock, and one that is comparatively little
known, is that of carrying its young in order to remove them from
danger. So many trustworthy naturalists maintain this to be true that it
must be accepted as characteristic of this interesting bird. She takes
her young from place to place in her toe grasps as scarcity of food or
safety may require.
As in the case of many birds whose colors adapt them to certain
localities or conditions of existence, the patterns of the beautiful
chestnut parts of the Woodcock mimic well the dead leaves and serve to
protect the female and her young. The whistle made by their wings when
flying is a manifestation of one of the intelligences of nature.
The male Woodcock, it is believed, when he gets his "intended" off
entirely to himself, exhibits in peculiar dances and jigs that he is
hers and hers only, or rises high on the wing cutting the most peculiar
capers and gyrations in the air, protesting to her in the grass beneath
the most earnest devotion, or advertising to her his whereabouts.
[Illustration From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences.
AMERICAN WOODCOCK.]