Not only this power of the sound, but even more so the nature of the tune itself convinced me that it originates from the throat and not in any way either from the tail or the wing feathers, as suggested by many European writers. It is true that the wings are in a state of very rapid vibration during the oblique descent when the note is uttered, but this circumstance does not testify only in favor of the theory of the sound being produced by the wing, as the vibration most conclusively accounts for the quivering throat sound. Anybody stretching his arms out as if flying, and moving them rapidly up and down and simultaneously uttering any sound is bound to "bleat." Having heard, however, from my early days, of the wing or tail theories as the only orthodox ones, I did not feel convinced of the correctness of my own opinion until one evening I heard another bird of the same family produce a very similar note _while sitting on the ground_. Referring to the observation recorded under _Arquatella couesi_, I here only remark that the sound was so similar as to leave no doubt whatever in my mind that it had a similar origin in both cases. It may be that a snipe has never been observed bleating on the ground, but the fact that a so nearly allied bird is capable of producing essentially the same sound while in that position is an argument in favor of the more natural explanation of the sound originating from the organ which in almost all other instances is adapted to that purpose. John M. Boraston (1903) gives an excellent account of this nuptial flight, as follows: Another bird which the buoyant spirits of the breeding season urge into unusual prominence is the common snipe. About the pairing time, at the beginning of April, he may for some weeks be observed on the wing frequently throughout the day. At such times he describes great circles in the air at a considerable height, the rapidly beating wings carrying him round at a high speed. At regular intervals during this great circling flight the wings are laid out flat, the one inside the great circle the bird is describing being tilted up and that outside depressed. At the same moment the tail feathers are opened out so that the sky may be seen between them as between the fingers of an open hand. Immediately the wings and tail are so set, the tips of the former begin to vibrate, the tail feathers remaining rigid, and the bird strikes off at a tangent, curving outward and slipping downward from the normal path of its circular flight. It is this recurring tangential deviation which causes the circle of the snipe's flight to become so vast.