678 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



No. XXVII.— GOOSE-SHOOTING IN CUTOH. 

 Notes by Maharaj Kumar Shri Vijayarajji. 



In Outch, goose-shooting is to be had at only one place. This place is 

 on the Runn of Cutch between the Bunni Peninsula and the mainland, 

 N.-W. of Bhuj. Some two or three monsoon streams empty themselves 

 into the Runn near by and in a good year the water collects in a slight 

 depression some two or three miles long by half a mile wide. 



Geese have rarely been seen on tanks on the mainland, and then never 

 more than from five to ten in a flock. Bar-headed geese are known in this 

 country, but they are rare. The grey-lag come by thousands to the place 

 mentioned above. They are very difficult to get at, and until fairly recent 

 years no easy way of shooting them was discovered. They, or rather most 

 of them, very early in the morning, long before-day break, leave the marsh 

 which the natives call the Dhandh, to feed on gravel near the mainland 

 some two or three miles off. From the Dhandh they go out in several direc- 

 tions and the shikaris have only got to find out in what places they settle 

 down to pick up the gravel and to sun themselves. Then in the dark before 

 dawn the sportsmen have to take their places just short of the place where 

 the geese settle. 



These birds are so curiously particular as to their course of flight that for 

 the convenience of the sportsmen pits are dug in the flat plain of the Runn 

 for them to sit in. A hurdle is slightly raised on the side of the pit facing 

 the Dhandh. Three or four guns can conveniently take their places at 

 distances of, say, from one to three hundred yards between each gun, in 

 a long line before the geese begin their daily flight. The hurdles are 

 made of the same kind of vegetation as grows all round the spot, viz., the 

 laana (Sucada sp.) so they do not seem to catch the eyes of the birds tiU 

 the sportsman behind them stirs to take his aim. 



The geese begin their flight very punctually and regularly. Before you 

 can see clearly in the faint glimmer of dawn, they send out some scouts to 

 see whether the ground is quite clear of an enemy or not. These scouts 

 fly fairly quietly, and as they come when it is still pretty dark, they at 

 times pass out of range without being noticed. As the light begins to 

 grow stronger in the East, the sportsmen's eyes get fixed towards the long 

 dim black line of the horizon which lies stretched out flat and monotonous 

 for miles across one's front. Far away in the distance, you see a flight of 

 birds low down over the horizon in a meagre line advancing steadily 

 towards you ; and as they draw close, you can see their wings flapping 

 pretty fast, and can hear them, making the familiar noise — krouk-krouk — so 

 dear to a sportsman who has once before had this experience. 



Now begins the proper shooting. The East is glowing, the sky is turning 

 from darkness to blue, the great flat black expanse in front is revealing 



