168 GAME-BIRDS OF INDIA 



Captain K. L. W. Mackenzie, of the 62nd Punjabis, writes to 

 me that he shot " one of a party of four hen Great Indian Bustard at 

 a place called Meja in the Allahabad district, about half-way between 

 Allahabad and Mirzapur. This is considerably further east than the 

 limits laid down by Gates." 



Mr. F. Field of the Gpium Department also writes me : — 



" I saw a specimen of this bird in the Shahabad District of Behar 

 in the cold weather of 1888. I could not get near enough for a shot 

 but it was undoubtedly tliis bird, as I watched him through my glasses. 



" A specimen was shot by Mr. P. W. Stevens in the Gaza district 

 in 1902 or 1903 and the skin given to me. He also said that he saw 

 another in the same locality on another occasion." 



In ' Stray Feathers,' Vol. iv., Mr. F. Wilson records the fact 

 that a few Great Bustard are always to be found in Mazuffernugger 

 during the cold weather, he, himself, having on one occasion seen a 

 flock of sixteen. Mr. F. W. Butler in the same volume confirms this, 

 and says that a few are to be found in the district throughout the 

 year. He also states that "between the line of railway and the Ganges 

 canal, from near Eoorkee to, I believe, Ghaziabad there runs a broken 

 range of sandhills. Along the tract right and left of the range the 

 land is high and sandy, and here Bustards are to be found. I cannot 

 positively assert that they extend into the Meerut district, but I 

 believe such is the case ; and certainly a bird is occasionally to be seen 

 during the rains in the Saharanpur district, east of Deoband. 



"In 1871 I was in the Mirzapur district. I was told by natives, 

 and also, I think, by Mr. Pollock, C.S., that both Bustard and 

 Florican were to be found some miles from the station, along the 

 Great Deccan Road." 



Fortunately, at all events as regards the Bustards, these grand 

 birds are still to be found in this district and Mr. G. 0. Allen thinks 

 that they breed there. 



I have several letters informing me that this fine Bustard is 

 common in parts of Eastern Sind, and by no means rare in one or 

 two favoured localities in Western Sind. In respect to Kathiawar 

 Colonel L. L, Fenton writes : " It is found throughout the Province 

 of Kathiawar in suitable localities, which means everywhere except 

 the Gir Forest and the Barda Hills " ; and he adds, " Malia on the 



