€hap. XIII. 
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC. 
63 
male utters its cry without striking his beak the sound 
is quite different. 
In the foregoing cases sounds are made by the aid 
of structures already present and otherwise necessary ; 
but in the following cases certain feathers have been 
specially modified for the express purpose of producing 
the sounds. The drumming, or bleating, or neighing, or 
thundering noise, as expressed by different observers, 
which is made by the common snipe (Seolojoax gallinago) 
must have surprised every one who has ever heard it. 
This bird, during the pairing-season, flies to perhaps a 
thousand feet in height,” and after zig-zagging about 
for a time descends in a curved line, Avith outspread tail 
and quivering pinions, with surprising velocity to the 
Fig. 41. Outer tail-feather of Scoiopax gallinago (from Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858). 
earth. The soimd is emitted only during this rapid 
descent. No one was able to explain the cause, until 
M. Meves observed that on each side of the tail the outer 
feathers are peculiarly formed (tig. 41), having a stiff 
sabre-shaped shaft, with the oblique barbs of finusual 
length, the outer webs being strongly bound together. 
For the foregoing several facts see, on Birds of Paradise, Brehm, 
^ Thierleben,’ Band hi. s. 325. On Grouse, Richardson, ‘ Fauna 
Bor. Americ. : Birds," p. 343 and 359 ; Major W. Ross King, ‘ The 
Sportsman in Canada,’ 1866, p. 156; Audubon, ‘American Ornitholog. 
Biograph.’ vol. i. p. 216. On the Kalij-pheasant, Jerdon, ‘Birds of 
India,’ vol. iii. p. 533. On the Weavers, ‘ Livingstone’s Expedition to 
the Zambesi,’ 1865, p. 425. On Woodpeckers, Macgillivray, ‘ Hist, of 
British Birds,’ vol. iii. 1840, p, 84, 88, 89, and 95. On the Hoopoe, 
Mr. Swinhoe, in ‘ Proc. Zoolog. Soc.’ June 23, 1863. On the Night-Jar, 
Audubon, ibid. vol. ii. p. 255. The English Night-Jar likewise makes 
in the spring a curious noise during its rapid flight. 
