AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 57 



and producing a prolonged sound much resembling 

 the bleat of a she-goat. I will not enter the lists 

 by attempting to state positively how this sound 

 is caused, as my opportunities for observation of our 

 bird during the spring and early summer have been 

 comparatively few, but T feel convinced that it is 

 not a vocal performance. It is at all events easy 

 to see that during the stoop (at which time only this 

 sound is to be heard) the wings are quivering rapidly. 

 Many authors are of opinion that the tail-feathers 

 are the sole, or partial, agents in the performance, 

 and a few still adhere to the " voice " theory. Be 

 the truth as it may, the sound is so peculiar and 

 remarkable that the bird has acquired in many 

 countries names equivalent to " air-goat " and others 

 quoted in the 4th ed. of ' Yarrell,' all having refer- 

 ence to the bleating character of Snipe-music. 



In oiu' valley near Lilford I think that I could 

 make pretty sure of showing a Snipe or two in any 

 month of the year except June ; but taking one 

 season with another I should fix the average date of 

 first appearance in our meadows about the last week 

 of July. We always hear of a few, and in very wet 

 seasons a good many, Snipes in the first half of 

 August ; in that and the following month of 1853 

 our meadows swarmed with Snipes, of which the 

 great majority were birds of the year, and in several 

 subsequent disastrously wet summers we have experi- 

 enced similar visitations. 



These August Snipes generally lie very close on 

 their first arrival, but as soon as they become well 

 acquainted with the locality are as wild as at any 

 other time of year, and in my opinion worthless for 

 the table, as their principal diet consists of small 



