GLEANINGS FROM THE CALCUTTA MARKET. 481 



and three thousand birds will come in some mornings dur- 

 ing the cold season ; and here Blyth and I have met with many 

 of the rarest birds — birds that have never or scarcely ever been 

 obtained elsewhere in India. Here Blyth obtained the only 

 specimens of Ardea goliat, ever procured in India, almost the 

 only Phalaropus fulicarius, the only Querquedulaformosa, the 

 second Pseudoscolopax semipalmatus. Here I procured three ! 

 more of these latter — a splendid male of Querquedula falcaia — 

 another of Q. angustirostris~a.n Eurynorhynchus pygmcsus, and 

 other good, though not quite such rare, birds as these. 



There is scarcely a less likely looking locality than the 1,500 

 odd square miles, whence these rarities have been drawn ; 

 densely populated, devoid of all special physical attractions ; but 

 it is steadily and exhaustively worked, and hence the results. Pro- 

 bably there are scarcely any 1,500 square miles in the whole 

 empire that if equally exhaustively worked would not yield more. 



People write continually saying, I am in such a bad place for 

 birds, what can I do here, &c, &c, the fact being that there is no 

 single spot in India where an ornithologist, if he will only 

 work hard and steadily, may not get lots of good birds and add 

 materially to our knowledge of the distribution of species. 



The market, of course, chiefly depends for its supplies on 

 seasonal visitants, and it is only from November to the end of 

 April that it is much worth visiting. During one hot season 

 that I remained in Calcutta, I found the market generally very 

 bare, scarcely anything being brought there but Cotton and 

 Whistling Teal and Water Pheasants; though an occasional 

 Snipe, Snipet and Plover or Duck, that for some reason had not 

 migrated, now and then appeared. 



I shall treat of the market as it appears from December to 

 March. 



And here the first thing that strikes one is, what wonderful 

 things some people in Calcutta, beguiled by their khansamahs, 

 do eat. 



They do draw the line at Vultures ; there was a miserable 

 draggle-plumaged, broken-winged Gyps indicvs there one day. 

 rt How much ?" said I to the stall-keeper. To my astonish- 

 ment he replied, " This, sir, is not good to eat." 



But Little Cormorants, Gulls, Terns, Paddy-birds, Herons, 

 Pelican Ibis, and almost every shore and water bird, including 

 Water Pheasants, are bought freely by the hhansamah fee's 

 and cooked for and eaten by some body. 



Some rudimentary conception of the shape of birds' bills 

 and legs would be useful to people in Calcutta. I was dining 

 out one day and saw a dish of unmistakeable " Did-he-do-it's" 

 handed round as Pigeons. Another time, quite recently, a lot 



