Vol. xxix.] 80 



wise the pure white outer tail-feathers are shown to the 

 admiring gaze of the opposite sex. In view of the fact that 

 the performance takes place on the ground and that there 

 are no specialised structures, in either the wing or the tail, 

 which could possibly serve as musical instruments^ we are 

 forced to conclude that the sounds made by this Snipe too, 

 must be vocal in origin. It has always seemed to nie a 

 remarkable thing that some of the Scolopacince should have 

 such specialised musical instruments in their wings or tail, 

 and that others, although in form and anatomical features 

 apparently so closely allied, should have to depend upon 

 their vocal organs for giving vent to their feelings during 

 the breeding-season. 



" The European Common Snipe possesses definite special- 

 ised feathers in the tail which produce sound. These feathers 

 differ from others in the tail not only in their gross, but also 

 in their minute structure, and can be recognised at a glance. 

 That they are definite musical instruments there can be no 

 doubt, as with them the identical well-known ' bleat ' can 

 be reproduced by actual experiment, as was pointed out by 

 Meves in 1856. The radii of the inner web of these feathers 

 are firm and stiff and fashioned as the strings of a harp. 

 To keep them taut during the performance and to insure their 

 vibration when acted on by the aerial resistance, a band of 

 specialised muscle-fibres runs to each of these feathers, so 

 that when the tail is spread they project beyond the others. 

 These facts are now well-known ; but what is not so well- 

 known or appreciated is the fact that in the different 

 geographical races and species of Snipe these specialised 

 structures have become more and more specialised. 



" In Wilson^s Snipe {G. delicata) not only are there four of 

 these musical instruments in the tail, but in them speciali- 

 sation has gone still further, and the inner web of the feather 

 has become attenuated; while in two other South-American 

 species (G. nohiUs and G.frenata) the number of specialised 

 feathers has increased and the attenuation has become more 

 marked. 



