GAME LAW- 



BIRDS 



Pheasants and Pigeons 



v, ill. slight modifications to meet local supplies, the above enumeration in 

 MM- ..[ tli traffic throughout Imliu. For particulars consult the 

 t'urthiT p.- pular sections given below concerning the Edible Birds. 



Ortolans. The true Ortolan (l-lmln-i-im /nn-fnttimi) <.;urs only 



lonallv in Iiulia, but the substitutes for it are the bargel Social 



or Short -tin M| Lark (Cultitnlrt'lhi />/-f/'7///f///rf///<f), thedtm' Ash-coloured 



Finrh-lark (rtirrlmlitiuhi </rim-(i) ami other allied species abundantly 



met with on the plains of India. Buchanan-Hamilton (Hist. Ant. and 



/. (ed. Montgomery Martin), 1807-13, i., 226 ; ii., 148, 506 ; iii., 



i takes frequent mention of the ortolan. 



(<i) Pheasants, Partridges, Jungle-fowl, etc. The dull inn- : Taleef 

 /(I'lavfair, transl.), 1833, 145; Blanford, I.e. iv., 64-146; Hume 

 ami Marshall, Game-Birds, 183 et seq. ; Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., 

 XL, L'L'S: xii., 573-7; xiii., 521; Ball, Jungle Life Ind., 538; Sander- 

 Thirteen Years Among Wild Beasts, 147 ; Forsyth, Highlands Cent. 

 //r/., 130-1 ; Finn, Ind. Pheasants, etc., in Ind. For., 1902, xxviii., 

 77. etc. ; 1903, xxix., 116, 205, etc., etc. (long and valuable articles). 

 Kxcluding the poultry from present consideration, there are something like 

 species of wild pheasants, partridges, etc., which are systematically shot and 

 itt 11. The majority inhabit the hills, and are, therefore, but rarely seen in 

 tin- l>azars of the larger towns of the plains. In Simla, for example, there is 

 regular supply of the chir, kdlij, and mondl pheasants ; of partridges the 

 in-titur or kaindal, and last but by no means least, the chakor. The horned 

 jheasant jewar or argue as it is sometimes called, is also occasionally seen, 

 and many others are included by the Sanskrit authors under the category 

 af vishkira or birds which scatter their food. The Ain-i-Akbari (Gladwin, transl., 

 ., 267 ; ii., 130 ; also Blochmann, transl., i., 63) mentions several forms and alludes 

 the practice of catching them by means of call-birds, a method pursued to 

 le present day. One or two are favourite cage birds, especially the quail, and 

 re reared for the purpose of fighting (Ainslie, Mat. Ind., 1826, i., 288). Others 

 are much prized on account of their plumage (e.g. mondl and argus). No informa- 

 tion exists as to the extent of the traffic in these birds, but it may be affirmed 

 that the huge annual slaughter has for many years called urgently for the pro- 

 t<-< tive game-laws which have only just come into operation. [The following 

 publications, assorted provincially, will be found to contain useful local par- 

 ticulars : PAN JAB : Settl. Repts. Hazara, 1868 ; Bannu, 1879 ; Ludhiana, 

 1878-84. Game-birds, pheasants, etc., are frequently mentioned in the Memoirs 

 at" Baber, written about 1519, and the lujeh, to which he makes special reference 

 (320), appears to be the mondl. CENTRAL INDIA : Forsyth, I.e. 1889, 54-7. 

 ASHMIR : Lawrence, I.e. 118. UNITED PROVINCES: Gaz., iv., 243. BOM- 

 JAY : Gazetteers Kaira, Panch Mahals, Ahmedabad, Ratnagiri, Thana, Kanara, 

 lelgaum, Dharwar, Satara. MYSORE : Rice, Gaz., i., 155.] 



(e) Pigeons and Doves; Blyth, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1847, 



104 ; Darwin, Animals and PL under Domes., 1868, i., 131-224 ; 



Rice, Squab Raising, in Farmer's Bull., U.S. Dept. Agri., 1903, No. 177 ; 



Blanford, I.e. iv., 1-52. It does not seem necessary to deal with 



this subject very fully. There are some 40 wild species known and 



.alued, and in domestication practically all the breeds met with in Europe 



ire to be found in India, and a few seem even to have originated in that 



)untry. 



Pigeons are closely connected with certain traditions of the Muhammadan 

 faith, hence the birds are often protected in certain localities, such as at Mecca. 

 They have been reared for pleasure from the earliest times of the Moslem nobility 

 "f India. Baber (Memoirs, 7) tells the story of the death of Omer-Sheik 

 Mir/a in 1494, through having been precipitated from his pigeon-house. In 

 ' 'n-i-Akbari (1590) full details are given of the methods adopted for rearing 

 and training pigeons. Tumblers, carriers, pouters, etc., are mentioned, but it 

 seems doubtful if the luckeh or luqqun of the Ain, identified by Blyth as having 

 been the fantail, was so or not, though that name is commonly given to them 



135 



D.E.P., 

 v., 497. 

 Ortolan. 



D.E.P., 



vi., pt. i., 

 116 7, 

 195-7. 

 Pheasants. 



Simla Supply. 



Call-birds and 

 Traps. 



Game 

 Laws. 



D.E.P., 

 vi., pt. i., 

 230 1. 

 Pigeons. 



Methods of 

 Hearing and 



Tr.iiuini;. 



Tumbler*. 



FantaiU. 



