STRANGE CREATURES WITH STRANGE VOICES. 109 



The great question among naturalists has always 

 been how he made the noise. I think the question 

 has not long sincie been answered by more than one 

 observer, and one of the best of these answers has 

 come from Mr. Cheney. I quote what he says : " It 

 is now plainly to be seen that the performer stood 

 straight up, like a junk bottle, and brought his wings 

 in front of him with quick, strong strokes, smiting 

 nothing but the air, not even his ' own proud breast,' 

 as one distinguished observer has suggested. . . . 

 The first two or three thumps are soft and compara- 

 tively slow, then they increase rapidly in force and 

 frequency, rushing onward into a furious whir, the 

 whir subsiding in a swift but graduated diminish. 

 The entire power of the partridge must be thrown 

 into this exercise. His appearance immediately after- 

 ward affirms it as strongly as does the volume of 

 sound, for he drops into the forlornest of attitudes, 

 looking as if he would never move again. In a few 

 minutes, however — ^perhaps five — he begins to have 

 nervous motions of the head ; up, up, it goes, and his 

 body with it, till he is perfectly erect — legs, body, 

 neck, and all. Then for the thunder once more." 



I can add nothing to this perfect description of 

 the performance. The noise is made, just as has been 

 stated, by the wings beating the air with furious ra- 

 pidity. There should be no doubt whatever about 



