ilans_. I am obliged to use Latin names as there are no English
ones. The ground here is covered with the small _Clitocyle fragrans_;
it smells like newly-mown hay. And now we meet with various _Boleti_.
Look at the under surface; you see it is riddled with numerous small
holes, very unlike the gills of the mushroom and all agarics. We shall
find _Boletus luteus_, _B. flavus_, _B. edulis_, _B. scaber_, the
handsome but poisonous _B. luridus_. _Boletus edulis_ is, as its name
imports, very good to eat and perfectly wholesome; so, too, is _B.
scaber_ and _B. luteus_. Holloa! what bird has just fled before us? it
is a woodcock evidently, and has probably lately arrived in this
country from the south of Europe, though woodcocks occasionally reside
here all through the year. The woodcock is a very handsome bird with
its dark mottled brown plumage, long bill, and large, full, black
eyes. "What do these birds feed upon?" asked Willy. You often hear
people say "they live upon suction," and "do not eat any food." That I
fancy is a common belief amongst sportsmen. It is, however, altogether
a mistake; for these birds eat quantities of earthworms, as has
frequently been witnessed. I will give an instance of this in the case
of a woodcock kept in an aviary somewhere in Spain. "There was a
fountain perpetually flowing to keep the ground moist and trees
planted for the same purpose; fresh sod was brought to it, the richest
in worms that could be found. In vain did the worms seek concealment;
when the woodcock was hungry it discovered them by the smell, stuck
its beak into the ground, but never higher than the nostrils, drew
them out singly, and raising its bill into the air, it extended upon
it the whole length of the worm, and in this way swallowed it smoothly
without any action of the jaws. This whole operation was performed in
an instant, and the action of the woodcock was so equal and
imperceptible that it seemed doing nothing; it never missed its aim;
for this reason, and because it never plunged its bill beyond the
orifice of the nostrils, it was concluded that the bird was directed
to its food by smell." There is one very interesting point in the
natural history of the woodcock which I must not forget to mention.
The old birds sometimes carry their little ones from the place where
they are hatched down to soft marshy places to feed on the worms and
insect larvae found there; they take them in the evening and return
with them in