THROUGH THE YEAR 205 



of the wood through the air, I incline to think that 

 Mr. Malan is right, and that the wood may travel in 

 a series of unravelled eights. If so, however, the 

 eight-like action is by no means so clearly seen as 

 when cut in strong wind by the hind edge of the 

 hovering artificial bird. 



Is the drumming of the snipe done by the tail alone 

 as these witnesses say ? I believe it is not. I gave 

 an account of the exercise after watching it in the 

 water meadows near Romsey, and I see no reason 

 to alter what I wrote : " The sound is made by the 

 descent of the full stretched wing acting on the 

 resistance of the air ... Without the aid of 

 field-glasses, we can often see the full-stretched wing 

 vibrating as it cuts down, and the sound synchronises 

 exactly with this clearly seen tremor of the wing. I 

 have distinctly see the jar of the wings within the last 

 few days, and this without expecting or looking for 

 it. Whether the tail jars too, I cannot say. Some 

 people suppose that the tail makes the sound, but at 

 most, I should say, it is a contributor. The fact, 

 however, that the tail during the drumming descent 

 is full spread, fan-like, does not argue that it causes, 

 or even contributes to, the sound. ... All 

 birds carry their tails spread out to the utmost in 

 these sliding, gliding descents. I believe, but am not 

 quite sure, that, as it comes down, the snipe cuts 

 through the air sideways the wings point, one 

 earthward, the other skyward, like a gull's after one 

 of its ' rolls ' in the air. The drumming descent 

 is over quite a short course. It scarcely lasts more 



