The Descent of Man

webs being strongly bound together. He found
that by blowing on these feathers, or by fastening
them to a long thin stick and waving them
rapidly through the air, he could reproduce the
drumming noise made by the living bird. Both
sexes are furnished with these feathers, but
they are generally larger in the male than in the
female, and emit a deeper note. In some species,
as in S. frenata (Fig. 42), four feathers, and
in S. javensis (Fig. 43), no less than eight on
each side of the tail are greatly modified. Different
tones are emitted by the feathers of the
different species when waved through the air;
and the Scolopax Wilsonii of the United States
makes a switching noise whilst descending
rapidly to the earth. (53. See M. Meves' interesting
paper in 'Proc. Zool. Soc.' 1858, p. 199. For
the habits of the snipe, Macgillivray, 'History of
British Birds,' vol. iv. p. 371. For the American
snipe, Capt. Blakiston, 'Ibis,' vol. v. 1863, p.
131.)