462 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



upland. That the sound is produced by 

 the vibration of the feathers in their rapid 

 passage through the air is unquestionable, 

 for a similar sound can be produced by 

 striking a boy's thin wooden sword rapidly 

 downward, the resistance of the air causing 

 it to vibrate and give out a peculiar sound 

 similar in tone to that of the bird ; and 

 those who have spent much time in the 

 .marshes must have heard at one time or 

 another the wind playing through the broad- 

 leaved sedges, and, catching a leaf at a 

 particular angle, make it produce a sound 

 of a like character. I need scarcely say 

 the ' drumming ' is never produced except 

 when the bird is on the wing and descend- 

 ing, but the vocal sounds, tinka> tinka, 

 tinka, are often uttered whilst the bird 

 is sitting on the ground or on a post or 

 sod wall. One correspondent states he 

 has never been able to make out whether 

 both cock and hen birds make the ' drum- 

 ming,' but he fancies it is only the cock 

 bird. I am not aware that any naturalist 

 has stated that the hen bird ' drums ' as 

 well as the male, but I think I can settle 

 this point in the affirmative, for one day 

 I visited a very small strip of bog, and 

 almost immediately rose the cock bird, 

 which commenced to ' drum ' above and 



