OF SELBORNE. 35 



1 perceive there are more than one species of the Mota- 

 villa trochilus: Mr. Derham supposes, in Ray's " Philosophical 

 Letters/' that he has discovered three. 1 In these there is 

 again an instance of some very common birds that have as 

 yet no English name. 



Mr. Stillingfleet makes a question whether the blackcap 

 (Motacilla atricapilla) be a bird of passage or not; I think 

 there is no doubt of it, for in April, in the first fine weather, 

 they come trooping all at once into these parts, but are 

 never seen in the winter. 2 They are delicate songsters. 3 



Numbers of snipes breed every summer in some moory 

 ground on the verge of this parish. It is very amusing to 

 see the cock bird on wing at that time, and to hear his pip- 

 ing and humming notes. 4 



I have had no opportunity yet of procuring any of those 



1 Three are now well recognized, namely the willow wren, the wood 

 wren, and the chiff-chaff. ED. 



2 It is now well known that the blackcap, as White surmised, migrates 

 southwards at the approach of the cold weather, and spends the winter 

 in Palestine, Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, and other parts of Africa, on the 

 west coast, as well as on the east. Many even spend the winter in Italy,. 

 Greece, and some of the islands of the Mediterranean. ED. 



3 For a description of the song of the blackcap see the letter to 

 Mr. Pennant, numbered XL. This description was copied by Pennant, 

 in the third edition of his "British Zoology," vol. i. p. 375. ED. 



4 Amongst the many rural sounds which greet the ear of the vagrant 

 naturalist in spring, none is more remarkable than that produced by the 

 common snipe in pairing time. This peculiar sound, which is never 

 heard except from a bird on the wing, has been variously termed " hum- 

 ming," " drumming," " neighing," and " bleating," according to the 

 fancy of the auditor ; and nothing has puzzled naturalists more, per- 

 haps, than to discover how this noise is produced. 



Among German ornithologists especially, this has been a favourite 

 theme for discussion, and various have been the opinions expressed by 

 eminent observers on the subject. Some, like Bechstein, have main- 

 tained that the sound is emitted through the bill ; others, like Nau- 

 mann, considered it to result from a vibratory movement of the wings : 

 whilst the latest and most remarkable theory, that of Herr Meves, is 

 that it is produced by the outer tail feather on each side as it is drawn 

 rapidly through the air in the bird's descent. In an article on this sub- 

 ject, contributed to the Field, 27th April, 1872, we examined the vari- 

 ous theories here referred to, and gave our reasons for believing that the 

 view expressed by Naumann is probably the right one. ED. 



