2 • SCOLOPACID.E. 



the mountain Blackbird, warbled by the quiet lake that spreads its glittering 

 bosom to the sun, winding for away among the mountains, amid whose rocky 

 glens wander the wild deer, tossing their antlered heads on high as they snuff the 

 breeze tainted with the odour of the slow-paced shepherd and his faithful dog. 

 In that recess formed by two moss-clad slabs of mica-slate, the lively Wren jerks 

 up its little tail, and chits its merry note, as it recalls its straggling young ones 

 tliat have wandered among the bushes. From the sedgy slope, sprinkled with 

 white cotton-grass, comes the shrill cry of the solitary Curlew ; and there, high 

 over the heath, wings his meandering way the joyous Snipe, giddy Avith excess of 

 unalloyed hajipiness. 



" There another has sprung from among the yellow-flowered marigolds that 

 profusely cover the marsh. Upwards slantingly, on rapidly vibrating wings, he 

 shoots, uttering the while his shrill two-noted cry. Tissick, tissick, quoth the 

 Snipe, as he leaves the bog. Now in silence he wends his way, until at length 

 having reached the height of perhaps a thousand feet, he zigzags along, emitting 

 a louder and shriller cry of zoo-zee, zoo-zee, zoo-zee ; wdiich over, varying his action, 

 he descends on quivering pinions, curving towards the earth with surprising 

 speed, while from the rapid beats of his wings 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 hillside, 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 circumstances. 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 invariably 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 performed by the male only, or by the female also. When the bird 

 has gone through his evolutions, he descends, often with astonishing velocity, on 



