Long before we ever knew the word "camouflage" this favorite game bird was practicing it upon the hunter. As its nest is just a hollow in the leaves, the color of its feathers is its safety. This is a reddish or yellowish brown, spotted and striped with dark brown or black. Even the long, stick-like bill helps in its hiding among the branches. No troop ship was ever striped with paint to look more like the ocean waves than is this bird colored to look like the dead leaves as the sunshine and shadows fall upon them. If you should get so close to its nest that it must move to save being stepped upon, it plays that it is lame or has a broken wind. But it always keeps just out of reach as it flutters away. When it has coaxed you to a safe distance away from its nest, it suddenly darts away.

If its young are in danger it sometimes carries them between its feet. It lives largely on earthworms. These it gets by boring into the ground with its long bill. As it can only do this in soft ground it keeps near some marsh or stream; for a woodcock with a broken bill is the worst kind of a cripple. It is called the "owl among snipes" because it gets its food at night. But it always leaves its tracks, --holes or "borings" made with its bill. It can move the tip of the upper part of its bill almost like a finger in getting food. This is very sensitive; so it does not need owl's eyes, for it feels rather than looks for worms. It goes only far enough south in winter to keep away from frozen ground.