Birds. 1553 



by Mr. Atkinson, he would not stand alone in supposing the noise is produced by the 

 voice of the bird. I am acquainted with one gentleman, who holds the same opinion, 

 and as there is a divided opinion upon the subject, I hope that Mr. Bree (when he 

 has an opportunity such as he formerly described) will pay particular attention to the 

 subject, and give us the benefit of his observations whatever they may be. Before leav- 

 ing this topic I may be allowed to observe that many birds are in the habit of making 

 noises with their wings, some in their ordinary flight and others while wheeling about, 

 or ascending from a height towards the earth : of the first the common golden eye is 

 an example which makes a loud whistling sound when flying ; /Of the latter, the sander- 

 ling, dunlin, and ring plover, when wheeling about or descending in flocks may be 

 heard at a great distance : I recollect too on one occasion, while bending over a par- 

 tially devoured salmon-trout, I heard a strong rushing noise and on looking up beheld 

 a lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) within two yards of my head ; on my look- 

 ing up it immediately ascended with a smooth curved sweep without moving its 

 wings. I stooped over the fish again, and again it came down in the same way for 

 several times, making each time a rushing noise like a strong breeze passing through 

 the foliage of a tree. Partridge, grouse, pheasants, &c, all make a loud whorring 

 noise when they first rise from the ground, as is well known by every sportsman. The 

 difference of the sounds thus produced are occasioned most probably by the structure 

 of the wing. That the sound made by the snipe may (not inaptly) be called bleating, I 

 may quote the effect it had upon myself the first time I noticed it : I was returning in 

 the dusk of the evening across the edge of a peat-moss skirted with moor and 

 young fir-plantations where I had been to look for goatsuckers : after crossing a 

 thick hedge of furze and bramble, and proceeding about thirty yards, I heard what I 

 at once took for a sheep, and as it was very late in the evening I supposed it must 

 have been one that had got entangled in a bramble-bush : I immediately retraced 

 my steps, to look for and render it assistance. I had recrossed the hedge and was 

 just beginning to look about, when I again heard the noise which now seemed to come 

 from the side of the hedge I had left, again I recrossed the hedge, and again I heard 

 the noise but in a different direction. I now became a good deal puzzled and stood 

 still not knowing what to do, in a short time, however, I discovered that the sound 

 was above my head and moving from one place to another : this was all T could ascer- 

 tain at the time, for it had now become quite dark, and I could not see the bird. A 

 few weeks after this, while passing along the margin of the Carlisle canal reservoir I 

 again heard this peculiar sound ; it was now mid-day, I did not let the opportunity slip, 

 but by patience and attention, I not only ascertained what made the noise, but (I 

 hope I may assert without offence) how it was made. This sound when the bird is not 

 far distant, resembles the tremulous bleating of a ewe responding to her lamb : when 

 at a distance, it is not unlike the humming of an entangled bee, having a more trem- 

 ulous or shaking sound than when the same insect is on the wing. As respects the 

 deceptiveness of the voices of birds mentioned by Mr. Atkinson, I have often noticed 

 it, but never tried to account for it, yet I think it may sometimes be partly accounted 

 for by the position of the listener in reference to the bird and the passing breeze, or 

 by the stronger or subdued character of the tones in which the bird is calling or 

 singing. Often have I been decieved in the latter way by the pied wagtail (Motacilla 

 Yarrellii), while I have been straining my eyes to find it at forty yards distance, it has 

 been perched upon a stone, eight or ten yards from me, occasionally uttering a note or 

 two in quite a subdued tone, until at length, probably supposing I had approached 

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