230 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
ing passage :—‘‘ The Snipe, called ‘Gobhar Adhair ’—in Gaelic liter- 
ally, ‘ Air-Goat,’ from the similarity of its ‘ drumming’ to the bleating 
of a goat. The birds from early spring to August (in fact, there was 
a Snipe drumming over my garden yesterday evening, March 26th, 
1912) continue to utter a drumming sound at intervals. This sound, 
which rs emitted from the nostrils [the italics are mine, J. A. H.-B.], can 
be heard nearly a mile away on a calm evening, or down wind on a 
light breeze. Immediately before drumming the bird seems to fill 
the lungs with air by blowing out the chest, and by closely observing 
it one can see the bird’s throat working. When drumming, the wings, 
tail, and whole body is vibrating. When descending to alight the 
bird has another note, which sounds like ‘ kep-ik, kep-ik,’ uttered 
sharply, and when suddenly startled its note is ‘scape, scape,’ in a 
squeaky voice. It has still another note when feeding its young 
along a ditch—a note like ‘nem, nem,’ or ‘mem, mem,’ uttered hard 
and low.’”’ Mr. Anderson goes on to say that he is aware that there 
is a controversy as to whether the drumming sound is produced by 
the actions of the wing and tail-feathers; ‘ but,” he adds, ‘as every- 
one is entitled to his own opinion, the above is mzne, based on a life- 
long experience and close observation. Such controversy I will 
leave,’ he concludes, ‘‘ to more learned and scientific men.” 
T have had the above MS. in my possession—as will be gathered 
from the date of March 26th, 1912—-since the latest observation was 
made by Mr. Anderson. I wrote asking for further information, and 
I received a letter in reply, dated April 19th. After a few general 
statements as to his lifelong experience as a gamekeeper in Central 
Scotland and the Highlands before going to Tiree in 1886, he pro- 
ceeds :—‘‘ On nearly all these estates scattered pairs of Snipe bred, 
even on Glenartney, which is very high ground; a good many breed 
there in the ‘spritty’ hollows . . . Of course, there are far more 
Snipe breeding in Tiree than in any other place I know.” Then 
comes an interesting passage :—‘‘Some people imagine that Snipe 
only drum when flying high in air, but this 7s a mistake. They often 
begin drumming when rising off the grownd [these and other italics 
are mine, J.A.H.-B.], and continue while they ascend as long as their 
‘wind’ lasts, when they take in a fresh supply and go at zt again, and 
soon. It is not at all uncommon for a Snipe to get up within two 
or three yards of one drumming as it rises. If any ornithologist 
happened to be within three or four yards of a Snipe drumming when 
rising he would discard the feather theory for ever. The sound is 
very hard, as if coming from a bone instrument.” 
