THE TANKS AND TANK SHOOTING 



ducks and teal of many varieties in their thousands, also 

 the elegant flamingo, and other coast birds, you must, 

 however, visit the coast lagoons and islands, an experience 

 I have not had the luck to try. The inland tanks are not 

 a patch on them, either for number or variety of the 

 bird life to be met with. The principal drawback is the 

 difficulty of getting there as the coast roads are mere 

 sand-tracks, whilst if you use a boat you must have un- 

 limited time at your disposal, and be prepared to rough 

 it, literally. 



Occasionally in the drier parts of the beds of tanks, or 

 in the dry paddy fields, the sportsman may have the luck 

 to come upon a flock of the golden plover (Charadrius 

 fulvus). They are not difficult to shoot unless they have 

 been much disturbed, and form a welcome addition to the 

 table. Length, 9.3 to 10 inches; bill, i.i inch; legs and 

 feet, leady colour. Top of head, back, rump, dull black, 

 paling on hind neck, wing coverts, and tail to brown, the 

 greater feathers being lighter than the rest ; the feathers 

 of the head have broad lateral margins of golden yellow, 

 and those of the back, rump, and scapulars lateral and 

 double terminal spots of the same ; the paler portions are 

 similarly spotted with lighter hue, those on wing coverts 

 and tail being whitish ; greater coverts and lateral tail- 

 feathers tipped and edged with white ; forehead, face, and 

 throat whitish, paling into pure white on breast and belly ; 

 face, fore neck, and chest with dark centres to the feathers, 

 and the flanks barred with the same hue ; on the chest 

 the dark centres are broadest, imparting a dark appearance 

 to it. 



These birds come in with the snipe in October, and 

 depart with them in April. They fly fast, all together, 

 and sometimes circle round, swooping down and up, after 



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