THE WOODCOCK AND HER YOUNG.
THE woodcock builds her nest among the dry heather in the woods, and there of course her eggs are hatched. The baby birds are helpless creatures, of no use to themselves till their bills grow hard and their legs and wings become strong. They live chiefly on worms, and want beside a good deal of moisture. These things can only be had in swampy ground, and as the youngsters cannot go to the marshes, the question is, How are they fed? It would be a wearisome job for the mother to fly to and fro with the large quantity of worms that her hungry infants need. She would have no time to get a meal for herself. Well, regularly every evening she actually carries her young in her feet from the woods to the marsh and brings them back again before daybreak to the shelter of the wood, where they stay during the day. This habit was doubted for a long time and even denied, but it is now accepted as a well-established fact.—New York Journal.