2i^G Mr. H. Whistler on the [Ibis, 



spring migration begins to be felt, and throngli March and 

 April there is a general rush which dies away early in May. 

 Such is the cycle of the ornithological year at Jhang. 



Several well-detined lines of movement run through the 

 district. The Jhelum and Chenab rivers are a route for 

 water-birds passing iip to C^entral Asia. A most marked 

 route N.W. to S.E. in autumn and in the opposite direction 

 in spring is shown by the movements of the Sand-Grouse and 

 Crancis. Short-billed Minivets and Great Tits attest the 

 presence of a direct north to south movement from the 

 western Himalaya, while Eversmanu's Redstart and the 

 Meadow-Bunting show an equally marked east and west 

 movement. The southern half of the district touches the 

 fringe of certain well-marked migration movements in Sind; 

 as, for example, is shown by the occurrence about Shorkot of 

 Agrohates y. familiaris, Muscurtpa striata, and Sylcia com- 

 munis icterops, which occur commonly in Sind alone of all 

 the plains of India as autumn passage migrants. 



The inhabitants of the district pay little or no attention to 

 the wealth of bird-life around them, and are but little 

 interested in sport. The leading men throughout the district 

 possess guns, but they seldom use them for sport ; some 

 menial servant is sent out at intervals to procure a few Par- 

 tridges or Duck for the pot, and the owner of the gun considers 

 it too much trouble to kill game for himself. Falconry is a 

 sport indigenous to the soil, but on my arrival in the district 

 1 found that although many of the important landowners had 

 at one time or another possessed Hawks, practically all had 

 given them up. The discovery that their new District Officer 

 was himself a keen falconer, and had arrived with two 

 native falconers and several trained Peregrines and Shahins, 

 gave a temporary impetus to dying customs, and a number 

 of Goshawks were imported into the district; these were pro- 

 minently paraded whenever I appeared, and a miscellaneous 

 number of Falcons were also kept; but the old-time keenness 

 was clearly dead — killed by the many changes of the last fifty 

 years. And although some of the Goshawks were taken out 

 to show me sport, I do not remember (hut I ever witnessed a 



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