MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 855 



of October is the earliest date on which the first bird was seen and killed, 

 but the third week in October is generally the earliest that the first cock is 

 accounted for. The October flight is as a rule very small and the birds 

 that put in an appearance can be numbered on the fingers of one hand. 



December and January are the months when cock drop in in larger 

 numbers and by the end of March there is not a bird to come across. 



In the early sixties a single gun is known to have bagged 250 cock 

 luring the season. At present a sportsman is lucky if he bags from 30 to 

 40 birds during the same period. This great decrease can only be account- 

 ed for by the large herds of cattle that now frequent the plateau which 

 have destroyed all the undergrowth in the sholahs usually frequented by 

 cock and by puddlering the marshy ground whence the birds derived their 

 food. 



Early in the season the weight of a cock seldom exceeds 8 ounces ; later 

 on they increase in size and from 10 to 12 ounces could be put down as the 

 average weight of a bird. The heaviest bird that has been known to have 

 been killed turned the scale at 14f ounces and was bagged in March. 



The largest bag of Woodcock made by two guns within the last 35 years 

 in one day was 7 couple, all the birds that were flushed having been 

 accounted for. In these days one has to be satisfied if one picks up 3 or 

 4 cock in the course of a day's shoot. 



G. C. LAMBTON, Captain, 



Worcester Regiment. 

 S. P. M. R., Ootacamund, September 28th, 1910. 



No. XIII.— THE LESSER WHITE FRONTED OR DWARF GOOSE 

 ON KABUL RIVER. 



I think that perhaps the record of the killing of a Lesser White Fronted 

 Goose (Anser erythropus) on the Kabul River here may be of interest to 

 members of the Society. The bird was shot by a friend on 23rd October 

 1910 a few miles up the river. When first seen it was in the company of a 

 flock of duck. 



I identified it from the larger and commoner species by the white on the 

 forehead extending between and just beyond the line of the eyes, and by 

 the size of the bill which measured barely 1-5" as opposed to the 2" given 

 for the White Fronted Goose in the Fauna of India. I am sending the 

 record, as in the book above referred to, the Lesser White Fronted Goose is 

 described as " a very rare cold weather immigrant to Northern India." I 

 have not heard of any more being shot here. 



J. D. G. WIGNALL, Lieutenant. 

 Nowshera, N. W. F. P., 1st November 1910. 



