Snipe　鹬

These birds frequent swampy woods,marshes,morasses,and the borders of rivers.Their usual time for seeking their food is early in the morning and during the twilight of the evening.They subsist principally upon insects and worms;for these they search among the decayed leaves,and probe the mud and ooze with their lengthened bills.When alarmed,they generally lie close to the ground,or among the grass,or,suddenly starting on the wing,escape by flight,which is short but elevated,rapid,and irregular.The eggs,which are four in number,are deposited on the ground.In the snipe,and all its immediate allies,the bill is thickened,soft,and very tender at its extremity;so that this part,which is richly supplied with nerves,serves as a delicate organ of touch,and is used for searching in the soft ground for the insects and worms that constitute the food of these birds.

鹬出没于泥泞潮湿的树林、沼泽、湿地和河边。它们一般在清晨或者黄昏时分出来觅食，主要吃昆虫和蠕虫。为了寻找这些食物，它们伸着长长的嘴巴在枯枝烂叶和淤泥沼泽中东翻西探。如果受到惊吓，一般情况下，鹬会俯卧在地上，或者躲在草丛里，有时候，也会突然张开翅膀，冲上天空逃走。它不会飞很远，但会飞很高，整个过程敏捷从容。鹬一窝下四个蛋，通常产在地上。鹬的嘴巴和它所有近亲的嘴巴一样，顶部比较厚，而且比较软，那里神经分布密集，所以非常敏感，是个精巧的触觉器。这些鸟儿就用它来翻找软土中的昆虫和蠕虫等美食。

【注】

这里介绍的“鹬”，就是我国的成语故事“鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利”中的那个“鹬”。