Bird Catching In India. 141 



when going- to or coming from the nest. 



Many are the devices employed to capture Ducks and 

 other water-fowl. A time-honoured method is for a man to 

 put on his h -ad a p;rirrri (earthenware pot), having made holes 

 in its side to look through. He then goes into the water and 

 stoops so that his body is completely submerged, and rhe 

 garru, which rests on his shoulders looks as though it were 

 floating on the surface of the water. In this manner he very 

 slowly approaches the Duck that are feeding or sleeping on 

 tho water. 'I'hese either do not notice the approach of the 

 gatra or regard it as being borne along by the stream. 

 Having got near enough to a l^uck, the man with the pot on 

 his head seizes it by its feet, pulls it under water and then 

 secures it without a quack and almost without a splash! In 

 the time of the Emperor Akbar, histead of the earthen pot, the 

 skin of some water-fowl was used to hide the head of the 

 bird- catcher. 



■' Raoul " in Small Game Shooting iir Bengal men- 

 tions two otlior methods of catching Duck which I have not 

 witnessed and so cannot vouch for their acci^racy. According 

 to hmi, in Kashmir a Falcon is trained to seize Duck and to 

 bring them to the hunter, or hold them down on the water 

 till the shikari comes up. This last method, if it be prac- 

 tised, can apply only to the non-diving Ducks. 



The other method of approaching Duck noted by 

 " Kaoul " is " \o let water-butitalo go into the water, between 

 which the hunter conceals himself and thus catches the 

 Ducks." A method of snaring Ducks connnonly employed in 

 the United Provinces is to place two bamboos over a spot 

 where the Geese fiy low when approaching their feeding 

 ground. 



-Vnother method of securing Geese is to drive a number 

 of small pegs into the ground where Geese are known to feed: 

 to eacli ol these pegs is fastened a noose of twisted hcnse-hair. 

 rhe legs of the feeding birds become entangled ui the nooses. 



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