THE SHOOTING SEASON, 1908-09. 509 



for the birds to stop. At first sight one would have imagined the same 

 conditions existed at Ajmer where quail were " abundant in places," 

 since we know there was a very heavy rainfall and " the tanks were full to 

 overflowing." On looking at the rainfall returns, however, we find that 

 for the month of September the fall was below the average and so the 

 ground may have had time to dry and be suitable to quail " in places." 



SNIPE. 



Snipe were reported as being (1) "very good", "good" or "plentiful" 

 in the Gurdaspur and Kangra districts, at Dera Ismail Khan, Mahi Kantha, 

 Champarum, Cuddapah, Sonapur and the Andamans ; (2) "fair" or 

 " average " at Sita Road, Nasirabad, Neemuch, Deesa, Etah, Bhandara, 

 Aurangabad and Dharwar ; (3) " scarce " or " bad " at Phillour, Multan, 

 Seistan, Ajmer, Abu Road, Bahraich and Gonda Districts, Balaur, Mysore, 

 Manipur and Lower Bengal. 



Comparing these reports with the rainfall in the districts we find that 

 there was an average fall in all those which come under (1) except at 

 Champarum in Bengal, where it was below the average. There, however, the 

 snipe were frequenting the semi-dry beds of large jheels in perfect security 

 since it was impossible to get near them. In the districts under (2) the 

 rainfall was either above or a little below the normal, but in those which 

 come under (3) all kinds of rainfalls were experienced : for instance, at 

 Ajmer and Abu Road there was an abnormally heavy fall, <vhile in the 

 Gonda and Bahraich districts of Oudh the fall was much below tne average. 



In the Andamans snipe arrived in the beginning of September and nothing 

 but pintails were shot. The first snipe to be seen and shot in the Bhandara 

 district was a pintail on October 9th. 



DUCK AND GEESE. 



Taken as a whole, the season seems to have been bad all over except in 

 the N.-W., Assam and one or two isolated localities. In the Gurdaspur and 

 Kangra districts the season was a good one and quite up to the average, 

 and at Dharwar in the Southern Mahratta Country certain kinds of ducks 

 were very abundant. According to Lieut. -Colonel Impey birds were un- 

 usually abundant on the famous Bharatpur Jhil in Rajputana (J. B. N. H. S., 

 Vol. XIX, pp. 750-1), while in Lower Bengal they were more numerous than 

 usual, and at Sonapur in Assam the season was very good. The returns 

 from Nasirabad, Neemuch and Deesa give the season as an average one 

 with plenty of duck about, and those from Dera Ismail Khan, Etah and 

 Manipur give it as "fair." The remaining localities which include Phillour, 

 Multan, Sita Road, Ajmer, Abu Road, Bahraich and Gonda districts, 

 Champarum, Bhandara, Aurangabad, Balur, Bangalore, Cuddapah and 

 Mysore are returned as " bad " or " very bad. " 



It is difficult to account for the scarcity of duck in parts of Sind, 



