STUMPERS CCCXII

Credit: NY Times Crossword
September 11, 2019
Ned White

This puzzle had circles to help in the solve. Can you explain how the two clues below are satisfied by their corresponding answers?

1. BIRD IN THE HAND - HIRED PERSON
2. SNAKE IN THE GRASS - CATTLE FODDER

HINTS:
A. The answers involve hidden words.
B. The letters of the words are in correct left-to-right order, but they are not consecutive.

Answers:

The answers are synonyms for the last word in each clue. HIRED PERSON for HAND and CATTLE FODDER for GRASS. 

1. BIRD in HIRED PERSON = HirEd  peRsON = HERON 
2. SNAKE in CATTLE FODDER = cAttle foDDER = ADDER