CORNCRAKE AND NIGHTJAR 97 



Though the cause of these subconscious 

 manifestations is practically the same in all 

 cases, the " drumming " of the snipe is exe- 

 cuted in a fashion entirely different to the 

 wing-drumming of some other species ; these, 

 however, I shall have occasion to mention 

 later on, when referring to gallinaceous fowl. 

 Whilst on the subject, and as a personal 

 note, I would appeal to naturalists to give close 

 attention to two British species with a view 

 to discover whether their love demonstrations 

 are vocal or otherwise — viz., the Corncrake 

 (Rallus pratensis), and the Nightjar (Capri- 

 mulgus). It may not have occurred to anyone 

 that there can be a question on the matter, 

 but, personally, I am not satisfied that these 

 expressions are vocalized, and though I have 

 pushed investigations as far as possible, have 

 had no satisfactory results. My nearest 

 approach to success was in the case of the 

 corncrake who, on the occasion, was " rasping " 

 on the top of a bank. By crawling for a long 

 distance up a wet ditch I succeeded in getting 

 within a few feet of the bird, when it seemed to 

 my fancy that however the sound was pro- 

 duced, it was not vocalized. On raising my 

 head to a level with the top of the bank the 

 " rasping " immediately ceased, and so, un- 

 fortunately, the attempt failed. 



