264



Mr. E. W. Harper,



seeing the bait, the bird dashes into the net, which is almost

invisible, becoming entangled in its folds.


Quail-catching in India is an industry of considerable

importance, many thousands being sent to the Calcutta market

alone, every year. The two men in the photo, at the bottom of

the plate are professional Quail-catchers, whom I caused to be

recently photographed at Lucknow. Each of the twenty-four

cages depicted in the photo, contains a single call Quail, which

has been caged some time. Just prior to its service as a call-

bird being requisitioned, the cage of each Quail js carefully

wrapped in a cotton cloth ; for, by this means, it is supposed to

call more loudly. A Quail net measures about five vards broad

and about fifteen yards long. It is spread in a concave shape,

one side being supported by upright bamboos, or sometimes by

bushes. The other side of the net hangs loosely upon the

ground. Towards dusk, in the evening, the cages, all tied

together, are suspended about six feet above the ground, from a

stout upright bamboo, stuck in the ground immediately in front

of the net. Very early in the morning, shortly before dawn,

three or four beaters commence operations some few hundred

yards in front of the net, towards the mouth of which the

Quails are gradually driven. The call-birds meanwhile un¬

consciously allure their unhappy fellows to captivity. Once

having struck against the net, the Quails are afraid to run back,

because of the near approach of the beaters, who, coming up

behind the fluttering birds, secure them in their vain endeavours

to penetrate the net. The greatest care is taken of the call

Quails, they being of quite as much importance to the catcher

as the milkman’s cow, the coster’s donkey, and the keeper’s dog

are to their respective owners. The call-birds’ diet is a very

simple one: it consists of seed and water, the nourishing pro¬

perties of the former being enhanced by the addition of a small

quantity of butter, which is rubbed into the seed with the hands.

I recommend this process of administering a powerful fattener

to the attention of those who keep Pigeons, Doves, Quails, and

other grain-eating birds.


Waterfowl are largely caught by driving them at night

along the surface of the water, upon which they are reclining,



