Shenandoah Herald

Woodcock Second to No Bird for Intelligence
If we may believe the naturalists, the woodcock is an unusual bird. When migrating he flies at a great height until he wishes to rest, and then descends almost perpendicularly to the spot which he has chosen. As a worm-digger he is unexcelled, and has even been known to have a batting average of 1000 when sticking his long bill into the turf in search of breakfast.

Among the other characteristics is dislike of bright light, which makes him keep in the dark during the day time. Whether this is due to thwarted vanity, naturalists do not tell us, although he is described as having legs which are too short for his large body, a tail only half as long as it should be, a neck which is both too short and too fat, and a bill which is too long and too straight. To complete the list of his qualities, his eyes are said to be too far back and his head entirely out of drawing.

Undoubtedly the nature fakers could tell us what sort of complex afflicts him, for they have again revived the story that the woodcock is capable of self-surgery, and has been known to put a broken leg in splints and to dress his wounds with plaster made of mud and grass. The authority for this assertion is given in the Living Age as a writer in L'Echo de Paris, who has gathered testimony from witnesses in Sardinia, Thrace and France. The jackdaw of Rheims apparently isn't in it for pure avian acumen.