. The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. Evolution; Heredity; Human beings; Natural selection. 396 THE DESCENT OF MAN. CpART II. In the foregoing cases sounds are made by the aid of struct ures already present and otherwise necessary; but in the fol- lowing cases certain feathers have been specially modified for the express purpose of producing sounds. The drumming, bleating, neighing, or thundering noise (as expressed by differ- ent observers) made by the common snipe {Scolopax galliiiago) jmust have surprised everyone who has ever heard it. This I, during the pairing season, f
. The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. Evolution; Heredity; Human beings; Natural selection. 396 THE DESCENT OF MAN. CpART II. In the foregoing cases sounds are made by the aid of struct ures already present and otherwise necessary; but in the fol- lowing cases certain feathers have been specially modified for the express purpose of producing sounds. The drumming, bleating, neighing, or thundering noise (as expressed by differ- ent observers) made by the common snipe {Scolopax galliiiago) jmust have surprised everyone who has ever heard it. This I, during the pairing season, flies to ''perhaps a thousand .must Wd,. Vlto. 41.—Outer tail-feather of Scolopax gallinago (from '* Proc. Zool. ; 1858). feet in height,** and after zig-zagging about for a time descends to the earth in a curved line, with outspread tail and quivering pinions, and surprising velocity. The sound 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 (fig. 41), having a stiff, sa- lare-shaped shaft with the oblique barbs of unusual length, the outer webs being strongly bound together. He found that by blowing on these F^^^utcrtaU-featherof Scolopax frenata. 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 fur- nished 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 (), four feathers, and in (fig. 43), no less than eight on each side of the tail are greatly Major W. Ross King, " The Sportsman in Canada," 1866, p. 156 ; Mr. Haymond, in Prof. Cox's " Geol. Survey of Indiana," 6, 227; Audubon, " American Omitholog. ; vol. i. p. 216. On the Kalij-
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjecthumanbeings, bookyear
