WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 167 



and one to the painter of the dinghy, in which the u retriever" 

 sits ready with his paddle or hamboo pole. Either of these is better 

 than sculls, as the latter involve his rowing with his back to the 

 game, or fi backing water," and both manoeuvres are inconvenient 

 if he has to pursue a winged Duck. 



Birds are not so much alarmed by the gliding motion of a boat 

 under sail as by the more demonstrative processes of rowing or 

 paddling, and will often give a sailing boat a shot. As the bird 

 falls, the sail-trimmers instantly lower or brail up the sails, the man 

 at the painter casts off the dinghy, and the " retriever" starts for 

 Ids bird ; while the helmsman brings his boat to the wdnd, or 

 throws out a little grapnel or anchor ; a stone does well enough. 

 In the smooth creeks these manoeuvres are not dangerous. When 

 the retriever has got his bird (for which purpose he has, or should 

 have, a light landing net ) he rejoins the admiral, and the proceed- 

 ings go on da capo. This is by no means a very killing way of shoot- 

 ing ; but fair bags can be made, plus the poetrj r of motion in what is 

 usually good scenery, and sometimes very beautiful indeed. Some- 

 times one should lar.d from the boat, and employ her to divert the 

 attention of the birds from a stalk, and this gives variety. The 

 boat too enables one to indulge in a certain amount of comfort, and 

 even, if necessary, to have books with one, to say nothing of fishing- 

 tackle and belly-timber ; and birds intended for preservation can be 

 properly stowed away in a box or basket, or taken in hand at once. 

 The rest of our water-birds are unfit for the table, or at least com- 

 monly thought to be. The first of them is the Dabchick, which is 

 a permanent resident on tanks. It can however fly from one tank to 

 another, a?id moves about a good deal more than it gets credit for, as 

 it travels at night, probably for fear of Hawks and Eagles. 



A " Mother Carey's Chicken" ( Oceanitis oceam'ca) is known but 

 rare. I do not know where it breeds; but on one occasion I noticed 

 great crowds of various Sea-fowl near the Arabian Coast east of Aden; 

 and the cliffs of that coast may well be the breeding-ground for some 

 of our species. I don't know of any on our own coast. 



I once got a live Shearwater, probably Puffinus persicus, which is 

 in the Society's Museum. It was a storm-driven bird ; and I have 

 seen only one other in this region. I have not seen any Skua-gull 

 here at all. 



Indeed the poverty of this coast in Water -fowl is very remarkable 

 to a fisherman trained on the Atlantic. Lieutenant Barnes speaks of 



