bogsucker

bogsucker n [See quot 1903]

= woodcock n 1.

1849 Herbert Frank Forester’s Field Sports 1.86, The Woodcock. . . The Mud-Snipe, Blind Snipe, Big-headed Snipe, Bog-Sucker. 1877 Hallock Sportsman’s Gaz. 154, American Woodcock . . . Bog Sucker. Wood Snipe [etc]. 1903 Courier (Connellsville PA) 16 Sept 5/1, Both birds [=the snipe and woodcock] bore with their sensitive bills in the soft mud for worms, insects and seeds, leaving little round holes or “borings,” hence the farmers call the woodcock the bog sucker. 1947 Centralia Eve. Sentinel (IL) 30 Sept 5/3, It is also called the “bog sucker” and the “mud snipe” because it feeds in wet meadows and on the shores of swamps and ponds where, usually at night, it probes vigorously for grubs and earthworms with its long flexible bill. 1960 Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield MA) 7 Apr 23/1, With this bill plunged up to the forehead in mud, the eyes of necessity have evolved almost to the back and top of the head, so that even in this awkward position the bog-sucker cannot be surprised. 2002 Chron.–Telegram (Elyria OH) 10 May sec B 7/1, [Headline:] The dance of the bog sucker.