THE TANKS AND TANK SHOOTING 



and reed growth, they naturally form the resort of myriads 

 of water-fowl, and are more prolifically populated than the 

 tanks. These swamps are also full of fish and crocodiles, 

 and are a favourite resort of elephants. Bird shooting is 

 not easy, as the extent is too vast, but fair sport may be 

 obtained with a little trouble. I and Wright, on an 

 elephant shooting trip, once spent some three or four 

 days at Diwulani village (Moorish), and, as it is situated 

 on the edge of the very largest of all these swamps, we 

 had some very pleasant little shoots in and around it, and 

 also enjoyed some good fishing by the help of a dug-out 

 canoe. I find in my diary an evening's shooting there, 

 recording a bag of loj couple snipe, 4 whistling-teal, 6 

 goose-teal, 2 blue coots, 3 water-pheasants, and 3 smaller 

 cormorants the birds, other than the snipe, having been 

 shot from a canoe. Pelicans are also plentiful on the 

 larger sheets of open water in most of these wi/as, and 

 they are also the chief resort of the white egret, a great 

 prize on account of its valuable " plume " feathers so well 

 known as ladies' hat ornaments in Europe. On that 

 account they are ruthlessly slaughtered by natives and are 

 consequently becoming rather scarce. To secure a speci- 

 men, however, it is worth your while to shoot one or two, 

 if you can, but they are very wary and hard to approach. 

 Again, as a specimen, a pelican (Pelecanus phillipinensis) is 

 worth securing, but in this case you will have to use a 

 rifle, as you certainly cannot get near enough for shot 

 work. 



I will not give a description of this fine bird as there 

 can be no possibility of mistaking it when seen on a tank 

 by far the largest bird to be seen there. 



They look very large in the distance, their bulk being 

 almost as great as that of a swan. When flying they look 



63 



