THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
ment with the tail of the snipe, and found that he was able to reproduce 
the sound mechanically. More recently, in 1907, Dr P. H. Bahr made a 
close examination of the subject, and the results of his investigations 
were published in the “ Bulletin of the British Ornithologists* Club ” 
xix, pp. 72-73. By fastening the outer tail-feathers firmly into a cork, 
and moving the apparatus rapidly through the air, he was able to 
produce exactly the familiar bleating sound made by the common 
snipe, and also to show that most of the other species are equally 
capable of producing sounds of varying intensity. It was shown that in 
the common snipe the inner web of the outermost pair of tail-feathers 
is the main sound -producer, and that the narrow outer web can be cut 
off without altering the sound, also, that when the rami of the inner web 
are disarranged, no sound is produced. If the feathers are exposed to the 
resistance of the air with the outer web towards it, the inner web vibrates 
so rapidly that its edge becomes invisible, and when travelling at a rate 
of twenty miles an hour the low humming sound is produced. Micro- 
scopically, the outer pair of musical feathers are differentiated by pos- 
sessing no fewer than eight hamuli or booklets which hook over the 
inturned edges of the proximal radii or barbules, and thus keep the 
rami or barbs taut, like the strings of a harp. In the other feathers of 
the tail only five hamuli occur on each radius. 
It is certain that the female “ bleats ” as well as the male, for this fact 
has been noted in the field by trustworthy observers, and the outer 
tail-feathers, on examination, are found to possess the same peculiar 
properties in both sexes. As to the female “ bleating,” a fact of which 
I am well assured from personal observation, it may be interesting to 
refer to the account given by Mr F. Boyes, of Beverley, in “The Field” 
of July 9, 1898. He visited a very small strip of bog, and almost 
immediately flushed the cock bird, which commenced to “ drum ” 
above and around him. In a short time he flushed the hen off her nest 
containing three eggs, and as she left it she dropped the fourth egg, 
which was broken in its fall. The bird, in continuing its flight, struck 
itself against some posts and rails, and fell stunned to the ground, but 
soon recovered and flew away. He marked it, and afterwards flushed it 
again. All this time the male was “drumming” overhead, and no other 
snipes were in the neighbourhood. The female now joined in the 
“ drumming,” and the two continued to “ drum ” for some time. 
Eventually both alighted on the tops of posts and allowed Mr Boyes to 
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