NOTES FROM MAYO AND SLIGO. 131 
of ‘ mystification,’ &c. When a fact has been unequivocally attested by a 
man of honour, discussion is at an end. Such a man is our Forstcleve, 
Alexander Schmidt; and he gives his word of honour for the absolute truth 
of the following account :— 
« «Tn the week preceding Easter, 1880, I had been shooting Snipe on an 
extensive marsh, much frequented by these birds, which lies near my home 
(a little north of Baumbach, a village in the Unterwesterwaldkreis, Hesse- 
Nassau). One of the Snipe was but slightly winged. Intending to place 
it in a meadow at home, and use it to train my young dog, I picked it up 
with my right hand, carefully folded the wounded wing, and started on my 
twenty minutes’ walk towards home. A cold sharp east wind was blowing 
in my face. Suddenly I became aware ofa hollow vibratory sound. I looked 
around in astonishment, and discovered at last that this sound proceeded 
from the Snipe in my hand. The bird repeated this noise many times, 
while at the same time it spread out the little uninjured tail-feathers in the 
form of a wheel. When I had observed the way in which each separate 
feather was set in vibration by the wind, it became easy to strengthen the 
sound by moving the bird more quickly against the wind, whilst it held its 
tail stiffly spread out. There was absolutely no difference between this 
sound and the well-known ‘drumming’ of the Snipe, as I had heard it 
thousands of times in that neighbourhood, and especially on quiet evenings, 
when it was audible at a great distance. I made the same experiment 
several times in presence of my father, who is a forester, and other relatives, 
and then used the bird as I had originally intended. I have related this 
fact to many experienced sportsmen and foresters in that neighbourhood. 
They were interested in the occurrence; but it was by no means new to 
them, for they had always regarded the tail-feathers as the vehicles of — 
sound, although they had not sought for any particular verification of 
this belief.’ 
“Such are the facts which have lately excited so much difference of 
opinion in sporting journals.” 
ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM MAYO AND SLIGO. 
By Ropert WaRREN. 
Tue fine dry warm weather of the summer of 1880 proved 
most favourable to small birds, and especially so to the summer 
migrants, which in this district appeared in larger numbers than 
usual; and the numerous young birds seen later in the season 
about the hedges and plantations, contrasting with the few seen 
during the previous summer, also proved how favourable was 
