102 GAME-BIEDS OP INDIA 



" I individually am certain that all conditions being identical, 

 the flight of the Pintail is more laboured and more direct and less 

 zigzaggy than that of the Fantail. 



As to the notes of the two birds, I am at a less to understand 

 how anyone can assert that they are identical." 



At this point Hume stops and forgets to tell us how to say y^^hat^ 

 cry belongs to which bird. Some of his correspondents try to show 

 in what they consider the difference exists. Stuart says : — 



" It rises with a sharp loud cry unlike the ordinary snipe and 

 its flight is heavier." 



Parker says that the Pintail has a more laboured flight than the 

 Fantail. 



Brooke also thinks that the cry is different and the flight rather 

 slower and not so zigzag. 



On the other hand we have observers like Baldwin, Scully and 

 Butler, all declaring that they can find no difference in voice or flight 

 between the two birds. 



That some men can tell the difl'erence is a fact, as I found out 

 one day at the cost of one rupee per bird. I was shooting with a 

 friend, who called out as a bird dropped, "Hallo, that's a Pintail." 

 It was so right enough, but my sceptical nature made me think it 

 was a fluke his guessing correctly, and 1 told him so. Thereupon he 

 bet me a rupee a bird that he would name the next ten birds he 

 should kill, and this he proceeded to do perfectly correctly and named, 

 as they fell, six Fantail and four Pintail. This sportsman, however, 

 said that the voices were identical, but that the Fantail got up 

 vertically and then cleared off, whilst there was a perceptible pause 

 as it changed direction ; the Pintail, on the other hand, rose on a 

 slant and kept going. He had never noticed any difl'erence in their 

 zigzagging, as Hume calls it. 



What is the best weapon for snipe ? A difiicult question to 

 answer, and to every sportsman the answer would not be the same. 

 Hume, we see, advises a 20- or 24-bore with a dram of powder, but 

 this necessitates the man behind the gun being a brilliant shot and 

 also the snipe being comparatively domestic in their habits. For a 

 long day's shoot there is no doubt that the lighter the gun carried, the 

 less tired the shooter will get, and the less his shooting will deteriorate 



