CHAPTER XXII. 



INDIAN SNIPE SHOOTING 



A LTHOUGH the continent of India, with 

 xV its marvellous range of elevation and 

 diversity of climate, is the home of an enormous 

 number of species of game birds and wild-fowl, 

 there is no bird amongst them all which is at once 

 so widely distributed, so generally popular amongst 

 sportsmen, and so welcome an addition to the 

 somewhat circumscribed Indian menu, as the 

 ubiquitous snipe. From his peculiar cry when 

 he rises, the Mahomedans term this bird the 

 " Cha-ha," in fancied imitation of the former. 



Not only is the snipe found during about half 

 the year nearly everywhere in suitable localities 

 all over our vast Indian empire, but he also 

 generally occurs in sufficient numbers to make 

 it worth the sportsman's while to encounter the 

 burning rays of the tropical sun, and the fatigue 

 resulting from severe toil thereunder. Indian snipe 

 shooting is often a very laborious exercise, owing 

 to the depth of the yielding mud through which 

 the sportsman must plod. 



The snipe is a sporting bird when flushed, and 

 his swift, uncertain flight, and diminutive size unite 



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