438 APPENDIX. 
and drummed in this wise :—The body was suddenly turned on one side, and the 
bird descended rapidly for about Ioo feet at an angle of 45° degrees, moving its 
wings with very rapid and powerful strokes, its tail being at the same time opened 
to the utmost; having arrived at the lowest point of its descent it suddenly turned 
its body in the reverse direction, that is, elevated the wing, which had been before 
depressed, and with a short upward sweep ceased the drumming noise and rose to 
its original position, continued its course for a short distance, and then descended 
withthe samerush again. The movement was always performed with the same 
wing pointed downwards throughout one-half of the bird’s course; that is, if it 
commenced to drum with the left wing down, when flying from east to west, that 
wing was inclined downwards the next time it descended, until the course was altered, 
and the bird flew back from west to east, when usually the other wing was inclined to- 
wards the earth. 
‘‘ The instant the bird commenced its descent the drumming noise was heard, and it 
continued till it finished off with a sort of whiz directly the upward sweep, by which 
the bird recovered itself, was performed. By closely watching the bird it could be 
distinctly see that the vibrations falling on the ear coincided exactly with the beat of 
wings, which, assisted with the downward rush through the air, were the przmary 
cause of the sound. The tail. however, was spread, as I have already remarked, 
and to such an extent that it took the form of a fan, the lateral feathers being at 
right angles to the centre ; and herein lies the secondary cause of thesound. During 
the drumming beats of the wing the quills are more drawn back than in the ordinary 
strokes (this can be observed if the bird be closely watched), so that the atmospheric 
wave or air propelled by the powerful stroke of the wing is driven through the rigid, 
sabre-shaped, and opened-out feathers of the tail, thus making the peculiar noise. 
If a succession of quick puffs emitted from the lips be brought to bear upon the 
opened-out tail of a Snipe, a peculiar noise is produced, which is analogous to that 
made by the much more powerful agency of the wings of the bird during the rapid 
downward rush through the air which it resorts to when drumming ; and as the 
peculiar sound is unquestionably coincident with the beating of the wings, it can only 
be accounted for on the hypothesis here set forward.” 
THE PAINTED SNIPE. (Vol. III., pp. 381, et seg.) — 
On Plate III. will be found the figure of an egg of this species, there designated 
Rhynchea bengalensis, the name used for this species, until its identity with the 
African bird being generally acknowledged the older name 2. capensis had to be 
adopted. 
