7^ Snipe * drumming ' 



and to these a fourth may be added, who attril^iitc the sound to 

 a combination of the wing and tail. 



To this fourth class I confess I belong myself : unkind critics 

 may describe us as " sitting on the fence," ready to fall off on either 

 side, and say " I told you so " — still, it seems to me, the most 

 reasonable of the four. 



1. Against the vocal theory there is an infinity of arguments, 

 and very little can be urged in its favour, except the natural expecta- 

 tion that such a sound would proceed from the bird's throat. One 

 would expect, if the sound were vocal, that it would occasionally be 

 heard on the ground, or during the ascending flight, or at some other 

 time than during the downward stoop. Such is not the case ; and 

 it is, to my mind, inconceivable that the bird should restrict its 

 song to this tiny portion of its daily existence, or that the peculiar 

 flight should have no relation to the sound. 



There is, however, a much stronger argument against the vocal 

 theory. 



On rare occasions while the Snipe is on the downward stoop, 

 and the drumming noise is heard, the " jick-jack " note may be heard 

 from the same bird at the same time. 



Why a Snipe should so rarely sing and drum at the same time, 

 I don't know, but it is certain that it is most exceptional to hear the 

 two sounds together. A drumming Snipe is, presumably, braced up 

 for the effort — rigid and tense — with his whole mind set on the flight 

 before him. To expect him to sing at such a moment, is very much 

 on a par with expecting an athlete to burst into song as he tops the 

 bar in the high jump, or comes up " the straight " in the quarter- 

 mile race. 



Still, rare as it is. Snipe do sometimes drum and sing at the same 

 time, as I have myself had aural proof of this, and one such instance 

 appears to me amply sufficient to quash the vocal theory 



2. The " pure tail " theory is much harder to disprove,* but 

 it may be fairly pointed out that Meves's tail-feather experiments 

 are not so perfectly conclusive as they would appear at first sight. 



To bind the isolated feather on to a wire, and this again on to 

 a stick, but feebly represents the same feather in its place in the 

 living bird. To mount it with its outer side forward, and then 

 produce a drumming by drawing the stick sharply through the air, 

 does not prove that the bird itself makes the sound in the same way. 



It is more than doubtful if the Snipe can, or does, set his outer 

 feather forwarci if and Meves himself admits that, in order to imitate 



* " .\. H. Evans (" Birds." 1899, 203) favours this theory, as also does W. P. Pycraft (" Hist, 

 of Birds," 1910, p. 170) ; E. Selous (" Bird Watching," 1901, p. 53) accepts Meves's experimental 

 evidence as conclusive, although his own observations of the Snipe drumming lent support to 

 the theory of the wings being the producers of the sound. — Editor. 



t P. H. Bahr, in a very important and careful paper on " The ' Bleating ' or ' Drumming ' 

 of the Snipe " (Proc. Zoo). Soc, 1907, pp. 12-35). clearly establishes the fact that the outer tail 

 feathers are extended at right angles to the long axis of the bird's body. His experimental 

 anatomical researclies confirm his views, which he supports with much .sound argument. I 

 have repeatedly verified this myself. — Editor. 



