THE INDIAN POACHER AND HIS WAYS 253 



line along the ground, the nooses at the end of their pegs 

 projecting vertically from the ground surface. The man 

 then continues on with the pony until sufficiently far away 

 from the fowl to be able to make a detour, when he reappears 

 on the far side and drives the birds on to the nooses. With 

 luck he makes a good haul in this fashion. 



Hook and Line. Another method employed is to " fish " 

 for the birds with a hook, baited with fruit, fixed to a long 

 length of line. 



PARTRIDGE 



Call Bird and Nooses. A tame partridge is placed in a 

 wicker cage to which three or four double horsehair nooses 

 are attached. The cage is set down in a locality known 

 to be frequented by the birds and a network of similar 

 nooses is pegged out all round the cage. The man 

 then hides himself close by. The partridge is a pugna- 

 cious bird, always ready for a scrap. The bird in the cage 

 commences calling and soon attracts a bird who considers 

 the ground belongs to him. He commences attacking the 

 caged bird unless previously snared, and soon gets caught 

 in a noose. Others come up to join in the fray and the 

 snarer is often rewarded by a good catch. As previously 

 mentioned, and the point bears insisting upon, no respect is 

 paid to season or sex by the men who ply this business. 



The Line of Nooses. This has already been described 

 under pea-fowl. Crows are also trapped in this way. 



Netting. Clap nets are also set up at the corners and 

 edges of fields with the object of taking partridges. 



QUAIL 



Netting. Quail are probably more poached by netting 

 than almost any other bird in India. Call birds are com- 

 monly used, the part of the field in the neighbourhood being 

 netted. Another method is to draw a rope, held at each 

 end by a man, through the standing crop (dal), the birds 

 running before it being netted at the other end. 



In a kodo field the net is drawn over the crop till the end 

 of the field has been nearly reached. The net is then stopped 

 suddenly and held down and the birds beneath it caught. 



In the Central Provinces, according to Mr. Clutterbuck, 

 the following method is employed, and I think in parts of 

 Bengal also. 



The Cul-de-sac Net. The term best describes this 



