482 GLEANINGS PROM THE CALCUTTA MARKET. 



of Actitis glareola (worth about 1 anna a piece) were brought 

 as snipe. " Hullo," I said, " those aint snipe" (snipe being 

 worth 4 annas a piece) . "Snipe hei ?" said my host. "Han, 

 Saheb, esnipe hei," said the butler. " Yes, it's all right, he says 

 they are snipe, and he knows I" 



What bird a Pelican Ibis or Coromandel Shell-eater can do 

 duty for, I cannot say — Geese perhaps ; but I have several times 

 seen them bought by khansamahs for 6 to 10 annas each, when 

 Geese were at a rupee or more. 



Of course common Quail, as well as the blue-breasted ; heaps 

 of Wagtails, Pipits of sorts, short-toed Larks and the like, (all 

 of which are Ortolans be it understood), besides Crow Phea- 

 sants, Kingfishers, and all kinds of miscellaneous birds are seen 

 from time to time ; even a Brahminy Kite was sold before me 

 the other day with two Paddy-birds to a swell butler, who 

 doubtless duly served it up as " Game" to some one. But it 

 seems needless to enumerate all these, as the chief interest 

 attaches to the shore and water birds, which constitute nine-tenth 

 or more of the supplies. 



Four species vastly exceed in numbers all others during the 

 cold season ; these are Cotton Teal, Snipe, Common and Pintail, 

 and the spotted Sand Piper {Actitis glareola). It is very diffi- 

 cult to estimate such a thing, but I have guessed that during 

 the moonlit half of the month, some 200 of each of these are 

 brought in as an average daily. 



During the dark half of the month much fewer come in — the 

 birds are mostly netted ; and they cannot work the nets as 

 successfully on dark nights, and on cloudy foggy nights they 

 often catch next to nothing. 



I will enumerate now all the species of shore and water birds 

 that occur in the market, including one or two that Blyth got, 

 but which I have never yet met with. 

 842. — Glareola orientalis, Leach. 



Very rare ; I have only twice, I think, seen it brought into 

 the market. 



843. — Glareola lactea, Tern. 



Occasionally half a dozen or so. 



844. — Squatarola helvetica, Lin. 



I don't think that on an average above eight or ten come in 

 during the whole season, but I once saw over fifty. 



845.— Charadrius fulvus, Gm. 



In the early part of the cold weather, and again towards the 

 end of the spring, these are brought in in enormous numbers. 



