372 SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO. 



of his wing the tremulous air gives to the ear what at first 

 seems the voice of distant thunder. This noise some have 

 likened to the bleating of a goat at a distance on the hill- 

 side, and thus have named our bird the Air-goat and Air- 

 bleater. The sound, I think, is evidently produced by the 

 rapid action of the wings, which, during its continuance, 

 are seen to be in tremulous motion. It comes on the ear 

 soon after the bird commences its descent, and ceases when, 

 having gained the lowest part of the curve, it recovers itself, 

 and ascends with a different and ordinary motion of its 

 wings. I have never heard it under any other circum- 

 stances. Were it produced by the voice it might be emitted 

 when the bird is on the ground, or during its ordinary 

 flight ; but should one hear it on the moor, he will invari- 

 ably find that it proceeds from on high. In this manner 

 the Snipe may continue to amuse itself for, perhaps, an hour 

 or more ; and sometimes, in the clear sky, one may trace it 

 until at length it mounts so high as to be no longer 

 perceptible. 



This drumming noise of the Snipe commences in April, 

 and is continued through the summer. It is altogether a 

 solitary act, although several individuals may often be heard 

 at the same time, and may be an expression of the happiness 

 of the bird, or an intimation of its presence to its mate while 

 sitting upon her eggs. We have no means of ascertaining 

 its object, nor has it been determined whether it be per- 

 formed by the male only, or by the female also. When the 

 bird has gone through his evolutions, he descends, often 

 with astonishing velocity, on partially extended and appa- 

 rently motionless wings, diminishes his speed a little as he 

 approaches the ground obliquely, and alights abruptly. 



In winter this species is dispersed over the whole of 

 Britain, and in summer many remain to breed even in the 

 most southern parts, where there are suitable places ; but in 

 England the number is very inferior to what is met with in 

 Scotland ; on all the moist heaths of which, but especially 

 on those of the northern parts and the Hebrides, it is 

 extremely abundant. The multitudes that rear their young 

 in the bogs of Lewis, Harris, and the Uists are truly 



