220 AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 



developed, extending to the upper half ring only, the other, the hronehialis, ih. d, is better (lev(;l.j;K>l, and 

 exercises control over three half rings. These two pairs of muscles sli.^htly oscillate the thin bones of the 

 upper portion of the bronchial tubes, and thus tighten or loosen the laryngeal vibrating membrane to tiie 

 minute degree necessary to cause it to produce a portion of the melodious notes given by the Woodcock. I 

 say a portion of the soumls, for, after all, the tympanif irras perf irm their share (if the lab n- of v )cali/.atiiin. 



Of course the principal relaxors for the tympanifjrms are the well developed stevno-trachealis. Fig. 4:1. g. 

 but these membranes are rendered tense, to some degree, by the actions of the muscles ib. b and d, which 

 thus perform a double part. The tympanifjrms. however, have an jther contractor in the f jrm uf a mem- 

 branous muscle that extends from the larynx to the manubrium of the sternum, and spreading downward 

 and backwards, adheres to the brunchials near the junction of tlie tympaniforms : ib n, is the laryngeal 

 orio-in of this muscle, and m its termination on the manubrium ; k being a portion of the keel, s, a portion of 

 the sternum. Only a part of this sternal laryngeal muscle is represented, the thicker, fjr it s,^n Is back- 

 ward a thinner section that occupies the triangular space indicated between u, m, n. 



Fif. 44 fives another view of the larynx, seen from below ; t. trachea ; t, d, d, the bronchialis muscle ; 

 m, d, d, the lower portion of the membrane which extends upward and backward to the bronchial tubes which 

 are not represented. 



I should say that the harsh notes of the Woodcock given when on the ground is pi-oduced by the vibra- 

 tion of the entire broad surface of the tympaniforms, whereas the more melodious warbling of the nuptial 

 song, and possibly also the whistling twitter of flight, are from the laryngeal membrane, ami from portions 

 of the tympaniforms that are tensified partly by the muscles b and d, Fig. 4:J, and partly by the membran )us 

 sternal laryngeal muscle, ib. n, m, and fig. 44, m, d, il. 



Mr. Brewster says that the notes of the mile Wjodcock mxle in the spring "are sweet and musical, 

 recalling the sound produced by a water whistle such as boys sell in the streets of our 

 cities." ("Forest and Stream," Aug. 1st, ISSIj.) Now as this m ist clearly in licates 

 that the sounds are liquid in their character, or in other words, that there is nothing 

 of the stridulous shrillness in them so noticeable in many species of birds that possess 

 a well developed semiluna membrane, goes far toward proving the theory, that I have 

 advanced, that the shrill notes of birds are produced wholly by the semiluna mera 

 brane, aided by the laryngeal muscles. 



As supplementary to Mr. Brewster's idea, wdiichis given in a most interesting 

 article on the Woodcock, in a more recent number of the " Forest and Stream.'' 

 quoted above, that the whistle of tne Woodcock when on the wing, is used as a cal] 

 to indicate its wheieabouts to its mate and fellows, with which idea I quite agree, I 

 would also suggest that a modification of this note is also used as an alarm. Thus 

 when a Woodcock is suddenly disturbed the whistling is given with considerably 

 more vehemence than when it rises without being forced to do so, and this more 



rapid whistling must instantly inform every Woodcock within hearing that one of their number has 

 encoantered an enemy of some description. 



Since writing the concluding sentence in the article on the sound-jiroducing organs of the Woodcock, I 

 have had an additional experience with this species, that tended to confirm the idea that the whistling s und 

 is used as a note of alarm or warning. Early in April, I was walking in company with my dog, near an 

 alder swamp, once a famous breeding ground for Woodcocks, but which has long since been abandoned by 

 them for this purpose, on account of its present proximity to a number of houses. Wishing to see if any ever 

 alighted there now, I sent in my dog, and in a moment he had a fine male on the wing. The bird rose within 

 fifteen feet of me, and whistled most vehemently as it got up and continued whistling until it was some 

 distance above the bushes. Judging from the size and color, as well as its whistling, that this bird was a 

 male, I once more sent the dog into the swampy patch. He went directly to the place where he started the 

 other bird, and came to a stand within a few feet of it, when a smaller, paler Woodcock rose, as far as I could 

 hear, silently, and noiselessly, and flitted away. I have not seen it mentioned that the female Woodcock 

 never made the whistling, and I think they do at times, but in this instance the female had received a most 

 emphatic warning from her mate that danger was near, and after remaining in concealment till the dog's 



