. The descent of man : and selection in relation to sex. Evolution; Natural selection; Heredity; Human beings. CHAr. XIIJ. Iiistniinentat Music. m after zig-zagging about for a time clcsconds 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 stitf sabre-shaped shaft. Fig. 41. Outer tail-feather of Scolopax gallinago (from ' Proc. Zool. See' 18
. The descent of man : and selection in relation to sex. Evolution; Natural selection; Heredity; Human beings. CHAr. XIIJ. Iiistniinentat Music. m after zig-zagging about for a time clcsconds 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 stitf sabre-shaped shaft. Fig. 41. Outer tail-feather of Scolopax gallinago (from ' Proc. Zool. See' 1858). with 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 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 Fig. 42. Outer tail-feather of Scolopax frenata. Fig. 43. Outer tail-feather of Scolopax javensis. when waved through the air; and the Scolopax Wilsonii of the United States makes a switching noise whilst descending rapidly to the earth.^^ In the male of the Chamcepetes unicolor (a large gallinaceous bird of America) the first primary wing-feather is arched towards the tip and is much more attenuated than in the female. In an allied bird, the Penelope nUjra, Mr. Salvin observed a male, which, whilst it flew downwards " with outstretched wings, gave forth " a kind of crashing rushing noise," like the falling of a tree.^* ^* See M. Meves' interesting paper in ' Proc. Zool. Soc' 1858, p. 199. For the habits of the snipe, Macgillivray, '
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjecthumanbeings, bookyear
