FOR NORTHERN INDIA 140 



is a rara avis. By the third week in August 

 good bags of pintail snipe are sometimes 

 obtained in Bengal. The fantail or full-snipe 

 (G. coelestis) is at least one week later in arriving. 

 This species has been shot as early as the 24th 

 August, but there is no general immigration of 

 even the advance-guard until quite the end 

 of the month. 



The jack-snipe (G. gallinula) seems never to 

 appear before September. 



Most of the monsoon broods of the Indian 

 cliff-swallow emerge from the eggs in August. 

 The " rains " breeding season of the amadavats 

 or red munias is now over, and the bird-catcher 

 issues forth to snare them. 



His stock-in-trade consists of some seed 

 and two or three amadavats in one of the 

 pyramid-shaped wicker cages that can be pur- 

 chased for a few annas in any bazaar. To the 

 base of one of the sides of the cage a flap is 

 attached by a hinge. The flap, which is of the 

 same shape and size as the side of the cage, is 

 composed of a frame over which a small- 

 meshed string net is stretched. A long string 

 is fastened to the apex of the flap and passed 

 through a loop at the top of the cage. Selecting 

 an open space near some tall grass in which 



