562 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XX. 



in the ordinary position of flight, then turning, it spreads its tail 

 out like a fan, the hvo outer tail-feathers being spread out well in 

 front of the other twelve and held firmly there. Immediately the 

 birds begin to descend the bleat is heard (making due allowance 

 for the time it takes for sound to travel). While descending the 

 bird makes tremulous motions with its wings from the radiocarpal 

 joint. The descent is made from 30 — 40 feet and occupies 2 — 3 

 seconds, the bleat lasting the same time. The bird does not drop 

 head foremost through space, but at an angle of from 45 — 60 with 

 the horizon. The tail as a whole is not vibrated, but it is quite 

 easy to see the two outer tail feathers with a strong glass vibrating 

 to such an extent that their terminal portions become indistin- 

 guishable. Snipes begin to bleat in March, but if the weather is 

 mild, in February, and continue to the end of May, though I 

 heard one last year in Sutherland still bleating on June 25th. 



" At the beginning of the breeding season they may be seen 

 bleating in pairs ; but later on when the hen is sitting the cock 

 bird may be seen performing alone over the marsh where the nest 

 is placed. Under favourable conditions many bleat together, cir- 

 cling round the same spot for hours. On April 12th of last year, I 

 had the good fortune to hear no less than twelve birds bleating 

 together a concert which they kept up all through the night. 

 Every now and again, as if by common consent, there woiild be a 

 lull and all the birds would settle, but directly one began again all 

 the rest immediately joined in the chorus. 



. " Snipe bleat best in the early morning and in the evening, 

 especially when the weather is dull and damp. It may be of interest 

 to note that last spring I saw a specimen of the melanistic variety 

 (Sabine's Snipe) bleating. 



" Once having convinced myself that the two outer tail-feathers 

 are invariably spread out beyond the others — a fact which is now 

 obvious to me with the unaided eye — it seemed to me that the two 

 outer tail-feathers must be the active agents in causing the bleat. 

 I accordingly procured several tails of the Common Snipe, and 

 taking the two outer tail-feathers pierced the shaft with a pin 

 to which I firmly bound it with cotton and inserted the feathers 

 into a cork at the end of a stick some six inches lonff. A hole is 



