INTKODUCTION. 



India is a remarkable country in many ways, and not the 

 least so in that, in spite of a civilization of immemorial antiquity, 

 there remains in our Eastern dominions such a rich profusion 

 and variety of wild life, even the large quadrupeds, so soon exter- 

 minated by civilized man, persisting in considerable numbers. 

 This wealth of mammalian life naturally attracts the attention of 

 sportsmen, to the exclusion, to some extent, of bird-shooting ; 

 yet the opportunities for the latter sport are just as excellent, 

 and no country can show such an immense variety of sporting 

 birds as India and our other Eastern provinces, while the indi- 

 vidual abundance of the species is remarkable, when we consider 

 that there is no such systematic war made upon their natural 

 enemies as is the case in Europe; in fact, the "vermin," furred 

 and feathered, work their will practically unchecked, and to them 

 we must add a horde of reptilian villains, snakes, crocodiles, and 

 carnivorous water-tortoises and lizards. The native also poaches 

 light-heartedly everywhere, though it must be admitted that here 

 he is only " getting his own back," as the feathered game is so 

 numerous, and so little indented upon by a population largely 

 vegetarian, that the comparative harmlessness of humanity to 

 the feathered world is ungratefully repaid by considerable 

 devastation of the crops in many districts. 



The worst offenders in this way are geese and cranes, but 

 ducks do a good deal of harm to the paddy, so that in shooting 

 wild-fowl one is often doing actual good to the cultivator, as 

 well as getting amusement and food ; moreover, the majority 

 of our wild-fowl being migrants from the northern regions where 

 they breed, the stock is capable of being drawn on to a very large 

 extent. The same remarks apply to the harmless and indeed 

 beneficial snipe and golden plover, which, the former at any rate, 

 form so great a stand-by of the sportsman everywhere, and to 



