APPENDIX I. 
1219 
It is a pity that Mr. Dresser adopts Herr Meves’s tail-theory of the Snipe’s drumming, after what has been written 
by Mr. Hancock and others. In my article on this species, printed on the 13th of January last, and written after I had 
myself carried out the experiments on which Herr Meves’s hypothesis was based, I showed that the conditions under 
which the tail-feather is moved with the stick and wire on the one hand, and with the caudal vertebras of the bird on 
the other, are totally different, and that though a noise may be produced like the Snipe’s drumming with the one means, 
it cannot possibly be by the other. With the intention of referring again to the matter in the Appendix, after I should 
have had an opportunity of observing for myself, I repaired this season to the breeding-grounds of the Snipe in Mid-Wales, 
and there had an admirable opportunity of verifying Mr. Hancock’s theory that the sound is chiefly made by the wings ; 
and I am now perfectly satisfied that this is the case, notwithstanding that the tail is spread during the performance. 
I went there partly convinced in my own mind that the sound was a vocal and at the same time a mechanical one — that 
is, that it was made in the same manner as has been observed in the case of the Great Snipe, with the bill and throat ; 
but it only requires close, very close, observation and good hearing to come to a right conclusion in the matter. The 
most favourable occasion I had for observation was on the evening of the 10th of June, when the same Snipe, having 
young near where I was standing, drummed over my head, flying backwards and forwards in the manner now to be 
described, without cessation, for a period of fifty-two minutes, timed by my watch ! It was a calm evening on an immense 
bog, with the sun gradually sinking behind the wild surrounding hills ; and as I stood, binoculars in hand, and with my 
wire and tail-feather for purposes of comparison of sound, intently watching the remarkable performance of the inter- 
esting bird, the time flew rapidly by, and I do not think 1 ever spent a more pleasant hour in the observation of Nature. 
There were other birds drumming all round me, for the evening is the time for this performance ; but I gave my 
undivided attention to the one which I had particularly alarmed by my proximity to her young. 
The aerial course taken by the bird was an ellipse, of the average length of a quarter of a mile, described over where 
I stood ; but it was sometimes varied by her making a figure of “ S ” above my head, the bird always returning to its 
original starting-point in the air and again making the same tour. The movement for the purpose of drumming was 
generally performed twice, but sometimes thrice, going and coming, making from four to six times in each figure 
described. It flew at a height of about 100 yards with a quick and regular movement of the wings, and drummed in 
this wise : — the body was suddenly turned on one side and the bird descended rapidly for about 100 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 with the same rush again. The move- 
ment 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 towards 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 seen that the vibrations falling on the ear 
coincided exactly with the heat of the wings , which, assisted by the downward rush through the air, were the primary 
cause of the sound. The tail, however, was spread, as 1 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 the sound. 
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 w hich 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. 
Page 828. — Gallinago gallinula. Mr. Simpson, of the Indian Telegraph Department, shot another of these Snipes 
at the Palverainkadoo lagoon in March last. 
Page 885. — Tringa rujicollis = T. albescens, Temm. With regard to the observation on this species in my article on 
T. minuta, I notice that Mr. Hume recently records this species from the Malay peninsula. I have already stated that 
I do not think any of the larger specimens of Stint procured by myself in Ceylon belonged to this form ; but it is possible 
that it may visit the island, which would, in that case, be the westernmost limit of its range. 
7 R 
