SYPHEOTIS BENGALENSIS 233 



raised strip, and here all the birds from far and near had collected. 

 The sportsman (?) walked from one end to another, bagged a dozen 

 Florican, and then when the birds had again retm-ned and settled on 

 the dry land, walked back and killed a lot more, and this he continued 

 to do until darkness drove him home. 



Mr. Anley, writing of the Dooars, said that he had seen as many 

 as twenty in a morning, and Mr. Damant recorded that bags of eight 

 or ten could often be bagged in a morning at the foot of the Garo 

 Hills. 



Colonel Comber also says that in many places they are common 

 enough in Assam for ten or more to be killed in a day's shoot. 



With a line of elephants there are still many places where one 

 could pick up a dozen birds or so in a day, but shooting on foot is 

 laborious work, for much ground has to be covered and the grass and 

 jungle make the walking hard. Under the latter circumstances a 

 bag of more than four or five would be good nowadays for a single 

 gun to get in a day's work. 



It is not often, however, that a sportsman sets out to make a 

 bag of Florican; many are killed by men out making a miscellaneous 

 bag, but perhaps even more are killed by sportsmen on elephants 

 returning from a day's big-game-shooting. 



In my article on the breeding of the Florican which appeared in 

 vol. xvii. of the Bombay Nat. Hist. Society's Journal, I commented 

 on the close-time needed for the protection of this bird, and then said 

 that it was probable that the time selected should be from the 

 1st March to the 1st October. This period is especially required for 

 females, but as the male bird is promiscuous in his courtship and 

 takes no interest in the protection of eggs or young, the period for 

 him might be taken from the 1st March to the 1st August. 



As a matter of fact, throughout the area this bird inhabits, 

 nature puts a practical closure on all shooting in August and 

 September, and the extension of the shooting-season for males would 

 have no effect. It would be excellent if the shooting of females 

 could be altogether stopped for some years to come, as there is no 

 doubt that the Florican is one of our game-birds which has been 

 seriously decreasing in numbers of late years. 



