WOODCOCK, SNIPE, AND PLOVER. 271 



that the humming whirr was caused by the wings 

 and tail in their rapid sweep. So close have some of 

 them come that I could see the shiver of the flight- 

 feathers. Where birds have not been wantonly dis- 

 turbed in their breeding stations, they take no more 

 notice of man when he passes than they would of the 

 donkey that crops the head of the thistle close to 

 their nest or young. I have seen Neddy flick his 

 long ears as they dashed down at him, and at last 

 make a bolt of it, sounding his horn as he retreated. 

 The occupier of that land told me that the reason 

 they were so fearless was that in his father's time 

 they had bred and reared their young without being 

 molested, and he gave them the same protection. 

 Those were certainly the most fearless peewits that I 

 ever made acquaintance with. 



The peewit's hum, which is only heard in the down- 

 ward flight, is caused by the wings and tail : the outer 

 tail-feathers of the peewit are not curved, those of the 

 snipe are. Rooks, when they manoeuvre and dart 

 downwards like so many hawks, make a humming 

 rustle in their descent. When I hear the matter of 

 the snipe's hum discussed, as I do at times, a vision 

 of cool dark-green leaves and bunches of golden 



