HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



yellow ; tail, broad feathers black crossed by wide band of 

 reddish yellow, and tipped whitish ; the stiff lateral pin- 

 feathers, usually six on each side, brown with white tips ; 

 fore neck and chest fulvous, barred brown on basal portions 

 of feathers ; breast and lower parts white ; flanks barred 

 brown. 



Most sportsmen, I imagine, know a snipe when they 

 see one, and I hope the above description will suffice for 

 the identification of the pin-tail, at any rate. If my readers 

 want more exact scientific detail I must refer them to any 

 of the standard works on the avifauna of the East. 



To resume the subject of the pin-tail : these birds begin 

 to arrive in Ceylon early in September, as a rule, few at 

 first but gradually increasing, until vast numbers are to be 

 found in their favourite haunts all over the island. They 

 settle in swamps, around irrigation tanks, throughout the 

 paddy fields, and along watercourses, from sea-level to as 

 high as 4000 or 5000 feet above it, but not in any great 

 numbers at these higher elevations, and they remain in 

 the country until about the end of April. The best shoot- 

 ing grounds are the swamps and paddy fields of the west 

 and south-west coast, the low country from Polgahawela 

 to Kurunegalla (off the railway line), the Anuradhupura 

 District of the North Central Province, and last, but pro- 

 bably best of all, the paddy fields under Kantalay Tank, 

 and at Tampalakamam, from 15 to 30 miles from Trin- 

 comalee on the Trinco-Matale road. All but the last- 

 named can be reached by railway. The Trinco district 

 will eventually be connected with the railway by coach to 

 and from Anuradhupura, in all probability, but at present 

 the mail-coach runs from Matale to Trincomalee, a distance 

 of about i oo miles. No special description is needed of 

 the habits of the pin-tail. They like mud, with not too 



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