170 OUT OF DOORS. 



the flight of this bird is short and fitful, as is well 

 known to all sportsmen, and seldom lasts more than a 

 few minutes. But during the breeding season the 

 snipe becomes an altered being. Towards evening it 

 leaves its marshy couch, and rises to a great height in 

 the air, where it continues to wheel in circuitous flight 

 for a considerable period, mostly confining itself within 

 the limits of a large circle, and uttering almost con- 

 tinually a loud, sharp, unmusical, and monosyllabic 

 cry, which may be roughly imitated by the words 

 c chic ! chic ! chick-a chick-a, chic ! chic ! ' &c. At 

 varying intervals it sweeps downwards, making a stoop 

 not unlike that of a hawk, and producing the sound 

 called drumming during the stoop. 



How the bird drums has long been a matter of 

 doubt, some naturalists attributing it to the organs of 

 voice, others to the wings, and others to the tail. To 

 set this question at rest was therefore an interesting 

 pursuit, and to that purpose several successive evenings 

 were devoted. 



As soon as the snipes began to drum we set out for 

 the marshy ground over which they flew, and by dint 

 of cautious management succeeded in ensconcing our- 

 selves in a dense thicket of thorn and blackberry where 

 we were perfectly concealed, but whence we had a 

 thorough command of the sky. Not choosing to trust 

 to my single observation, I had two friends with me ; 

 one of them a well-known bush huntsman of Africa, 



