UPLAND SHOOTING. 161 



Mr. Audubon here states his doubts, whether this sound is pro- 

 duced by the feathers of the wing, — or rather almost asserts his 

 conviction that it is ventriloqous. I have lain on the turf for 

 hours, watching them when in this mood, and when all farther 

 attempt at pursuit of them would have been useless, and have 

 observed their motions with a good glass. I am myself satis- 

 fied that the sound is produced by the fact, that the bird, by 

 some muscular action or other, turns the ijuill-feathers edgewise, 

 as he drops plumb through the air ; and that, while in this posi- 

 tion, during his accelerated descent, the vibration of the feathers, 

 and the passage of the air between them, gives utterance to this 

 wild humming sound. 



Such likewise is the account given by European naturalists 

 of the same sound which is produced by the Snipe there at the 

 same vernal period ; they mention, moreover, a peculiar cry of 

 the male bird at this season, different from his shrill squeak, on 

 being flushed, which is precisely identical in the Amencan and 

 European species — this they describe as resembling the word 

 " Peet,^' thrice repeated in a shrill whistle. This I never have 

 noticed in the American bix'ds ; but, on two different occasions, 

 when the birds were at the very wildest, drumming away for 

 hours at a stretch, and not giving even a chance of a shot, I 

 have observed another cry, which I cannot find recorded either 

 by Wilson or Audubon, any more than the practice, by which 

 it is accompanied, of alighting on fences, stumps, and even on 

 tall tree-tops. 



This cry is a sharp, reiterated chatter, consistinsj of a quick, 

 jarring repetition of the syllables, kek-kck-kek-kek-kek , many 

 times in succession, with a rising and falling inflection, like that 

 of a hen which has just laid an egg. This singular sound is 

 uttered as the bird is descending from its gyrations and musical 

 performances ; and, afl:er having descended, while it is skim- 

 ming low over the surface of the bog meadows, previous to 

 alighting. While in this humor, I have never seen them alight 

 directly into the grass, but have invariably observed them to set- 

 tle first on the stump of a dead tree, or on a rail fence, anc" 

 11 



