GALLINAGO SCOLOPAGINA. 



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attentively turning my glass on two or three pairs of these birds, all within 15 or 20 yards of me. They used 

 to stretch out their necks, throw back the head almost onto the back, and open and shut their beaks rapidly, 

 uttering a curious noise, like running one's finger along the edge of a comb. This was sometimes accompanied 

 by a short flight or by the spreading of the wings and tail." This is by far the most important evidence ever 

 published on the subject, and tends to show that the sound can be produced through the bill, in which case it 

 could be easily heard high up in the air. 



The accompanying woodcuts show the peculiar structure of the lateral tail-feathers in the last species, 

 aud the axillary feathers of both that and a young bird of the present species : in the old bird the bars at the 

 tips of the feathers would be almost obsolete. 



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Axillary feathers of G. stenura. 





Half-tail of G. stenura. 



Axillary feathers of G. scolopacina. 



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