GALLINAGO GALLINULA 111 



in his estimate ; as Finn says when discussing the same point, there 

 is no doubt that the numbers do fluctuate considerably year by year, 

 but he watched the Calcutta markets very carefully for nine years, 

 and in the j-ears 1882, 1883 and 1881, I did the same, and never did 

 either of us see the Jack Snipe exposed for sale in any quantities. 

 Certainly in no year did the Jack Snipe number on an average one 

 in 100 of the various snipe thus exposed. 



No very careful record was kept in Hume's day as to the com- 

 parative numbers of the various species obtained, and all estimates 

 made were very rough, and in many cases possibly not quite reliable. 

 Fortunately we are now in a position to give actual figures showing 

 the proportion of Jack Snipe to other snipe shot in many parts of 

 India, sufficient to allow us to give a very close general estimate of 

 their numbers as compared with the Fantail and Pintail. 



The most carefully compiled table I have received up to the 

 present is one sent me by Mr. E. F. Stoney, of the P.W.D., who 

 has been good enough to let me have a complete account showing 

 the snipe shot by him during the last ten years, 1901-2 to 1910, in 

 the districts of Chingleput, Nellore, Madura, Bezwada, Villapuram, 

 Ellore and Tanjore. From this most interesting table we find that 

 out of 7,131 snipe shot, only sixty were Jack, and that these were 

 distributed fairly equally throughout the various districts of the 

 Province. Shooting in Cannanore, Major F. Wall, I. M.S., was even 

 less fortunate in coming across this little snipe, for, out of 427 snipe 

 shot, he records that there was only one Jack. 



Again, Mr. H. Saunders, sending me notes on the comparative 

 numbers of the different species of snipe shot by him, says that he 

 got no Jack in Ceylon, and that in Bangalore out of 271i couple of 

 snipe only four couple were Jack, but that, shooting round about 

 Lucknow, Jack Snipe actually numbered no less than 40i couple 

 in a total bag of 74i couple of snipe. It seems, therefore, that 

 although Tickell records them as being more plentiful in Orissa than 

 elsewhere, the same does not obtain further south. 



From the Deccan also we have regular statistics compiled by 

 Mr. W. Gaye, and given in the B.N.H.S. Journal, for the years 

 1888-90. There the total number of Snipe bagged is given as 621, 

 of which only twenty-eight were Jack. 



