CASARCA FERRrGINEA 14;") 



The Brahminy is not an object of sport with Europeans, save for 

 those whose motto is "kill what, when, and where you can" ; this 

 principally because, even when divested of its tough and greasy skin, 

 he is not worth eating, unless with an extra dose of the hunger-sauce. 

 He is, however, well worth while to shoot, or try to shoot, if you are 

 not an old hand at duck-shooting, for by the time you have learnt to 

 circumvent and bring to bag " Chakwa and Chakwi " you may rest 

 satisfied that you have learnt most of the arts necessary to render 

 stalking ducks and geese a successful pastime. They are, as is almost 

 universally admitted, the most cute and difficult of approach of all 

 their tribe. Possibly the crow alone exceeds them in their aptness 

 for learning the range of a gun : they will nearly always allow of an 

 approach of within two hundred yards, often within one hundred and 

 fifty yards, and this with such a devil-may-care unconcerned look aliout 

 them that one would imagine a closer approach to be an act of very 

 little difficulty. Anyone who attempts to work on this presumption 

 will soon find out their error. Should the stalk be made with some, 

 yet insufficient, care, the Brahminy will allow you to come a few 

 yards further, and then leave for another and better land (or water). 

 On the other hand, should the stalker be so careful as to keep well 

 enough hidden to entirely evade the M'atchful eye, he is not allowed 

 to approach any nearer at all, but is given the benefit of the doubt, 

 and all he will find of the bird when he arrives will be the impression 

 of his feet in the sand. 



Practice may sometimes be had on the larger rivers, where they 

 are plentiful, with one of the modern small-bore rifles, with which 

 one ought to be able to kill at two hundred yards ; very soon, 

 however, they learn to fix the range even of these weapons, and new 

 ground will have to be sought for, for future shooting. Hume, 

 writing of this form of shooting the Brahminy, says : — 



" After being at this game for a few days, and killing five or six, 

 not a Brahminy in the neighbourhood will let you approach within 

 a quarter of a mile, and thenceforth they give you so wide a berth 

 that they interfere very little with fowling." 



It is decidedly a bird of clean, clear water predilections, and may 

 generally be found in the larger rivers on the wide sand-churs which 

 form each cold weather as the water sinks. They like such as are 

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