64 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



or near his starting point. He soon begins again on the zeeip notes 

 and the whole act is repeated again and again. Sometimes two, or 

 even three, birds may be performing within sight or hearing; occa- 

 sionally one is seen to drive another away. 



The performance has been similarly described by several others 

 with slight variations. Mr. Brewster (1894) refers to what I have 

 called the zeeip note as paap and the soft guttural note as pHul y and 

 says that — 



" Each paap was closely preceded by a pHul, so closely at times that 

 the two sounds were nearly merged." 



He counted the paaps as " uttered consecutively 31, 21, 37, 29, and 

 28 times." 



Describing the action in detail, he says: 



At each utterance of the paap the neck was slightly lengthened, the head 

 was thrown upward and backward (much in the manner of a least flycatcher's 

 while singing), the bill was opened wide and raised to a horizontal position, 

 the wings were jerked out from the body. All these movements were abrupt 

 and convulsive, indicating considerable muscular effort on the part of the 

 bird. There was perhaps also a slight twitching of the tail, but this member 

 was not perceptibly raised or expanded. The return of the several parts to 

 their respective normal positions was quite as sudden as were the initial 

 movements. The forward recovery of the head was well marked. The opening 

 and shutting of the bill strongly suggested that of a pair of tongs. During 

 the emission of the paap the throat swelled and its plumage was ruffled, but 

 neither effect was more marked than with any of our small birds while in 

 the act of singing. 



The mouth opened to such an extent that I could look directly down the 

 bird's throat, which appeared large enough to admit the end of one's forefinger. 

 The lateral distension of the mouth was especially striking. 



Referring to the song flight, he says : " Two flights, which I timed 

 from the start to the finish, lasted, respectively, 57 and 59 seconds, 

 the song 11 and 12 seconds, respectively." During the flight he 

 followed him with a glass and " made out distinctly that while sing- 

 ing he alternately flapped his wings (several times in succession) 

 and held them extended and motionless." 



Francis H. Allen has sent me the following notes on his impres- 

 sion of the song : 



In all that has been written of this wonderful performance of the wood- 

 cock's, I do not remember to have seen any full description of the song itself ; 

 the peeping, or peeivting, on the ground, with the alternating water-dropping 

 sounds and the accompaniment of head-jerking and wing-lifting has been 

 described at length, as well as the remarkable spiral ascent into the air on 

 whistling wings ; but the character of the actual song, which is uttered at 

 the summit of the ascent and as the bird comes down, is worth a little more 

 attention. It begins in a confused series of chipping whistles which convey 

 the impression of coming from at least three birds at once. These soon resolve 

 themselves into groups of four to six — usually four in my experience — 

 descending notes, the groups alternating with groups of high-pitched wing- 



