. The descent of man : and selection in relation to sex. Evolution; Natural selection; Heredity; Human beings. 372 THE DESCENT OF MAN. In the foregoing cases sounds are made by the aid of structures already present and otherwise necessary; but in the following cases certain feathers have been specially modified for the express purpose of producing sounds. The drumming, bleating, neigh- ing, or thundering noise (as expressed by different observers) made by the common snipe (Scolopax gallinago) must have sur- prised every one who has ever heard it. This bird, during the pairing-season, flies to
. The descent of man : and selection in relation to sex. Evolution; Natural selection; Heredity; Human beings. 372 THE DESCENT OF MAN. In the foregoing cases sounds are made by the aid of structures already present and otherwise necessary; but in the following cases certain feathers have been specially modified for the express purpose of producing sounds. The drumming, bleating, neigh- ing, or thundering noise (as expressed by different observers) made by the common snipe (Scolopax gallinago) must have sur- prised every one who has ever heard it. This bird, during the pairing-season, flies to "perhaps a thousand 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 sur-. Fig. 41. Outer tail feather of Scolopax gallinag-o (from 'Proc. Zool. SoC 1858). prising 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 sabre-shaped shaft, with Fig". 42. Outer tail-feather of Scolo- pax frenata. Fig. 43. Outer tail-feather of Scolo- pax javensis. Fig. 44. Primary wing- feather of a humming-bird, the Selasphorus platycercus (from a sketch by Mr. Sal- vin). Upper figure, that of male; lower figure, corres- ponding feather of female. the oblique barbs of unusual length, the outer 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 rap- idly through the air, he could reproduce the drumming noise diana,' p. 227; Audubon, 'American Ornitholog. Biograph.' vol. i. p. 216. On the Kalij-pheasant, Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol. iii. p. 533. On the Weavers, 'Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi,' 1865, p. 425. On Woodpeckers, Macgillivray, 'Hist, of British Birds,' vol. iii. 1840, pp. 84, 88, 89, and 95. On the Hoopoe Mr. Swinhoe, i
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjecthumanbeings, bookyear
