MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1083 



doubtless stragglers, were seen on the 25th April 1912, on the Kalka- 

 Sirula Railway line, a little beyond the Tara Devi Station (elevationi 

 6,050 feet). 



P. T. L. DODSWOIITH, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 

 Simla, S. W., SOW April 1912. 



No. XIX.— SWINHOE'S SNIPE (GALLINAGO MEGALA) 

 NEAR MADRAS. 



I am sending you by registered parcel a specimen of Swinhoe's Snipe 

 {G. megala) which I shot on 3rd March at Tindivanam some 75 miles south 

 of Madras. I regret it is somewhat damaged. The specimen was skinned 

 for me at the Madras Museum, and the measurement are those made by 

 the Museum. The bird was only recognized on examining the bag on the 

 homeward journey. 



Madras, 20fA ^jm/ 1912. R. F. STONEY. 



There were several specimens of this snipe shot in Madras this season, 

 all in the Chingleput district. Mr. R. F. Stoney had two, my partner 

 Mr. Graham Ross shot one, and I had three. 



I am afraid my partner and I would have passed them over as Pintails, 

 had we not known that Mr. Stoney shot one early in the season. 



I. S. ERASER. . 



Madras, 26 W A^ml 1912. 



No. XX.— CRUELTY TO WILD FOWL, &c., IN SIND. 



While shooting in Manchar Lake during January and February, I 

 have noticed the following cases of cruelty to wild fowl, &c., and should 

 like to bring them to the notice of the Society : — 



(«) E(jreU. — These birds are caught and blinded^ in order to prevent 

 them escaping. Each bird I am informed yields about Rs. 6 worth of 

 feathers, per annum. 



(6) Herons Sive similarly blinded, kept in captivity, and used as decoys. 



(c) Duck, Geese, Coots, S)-c. — A net i to ^ mile long and about 7 feet high 

 from the water is put out in a likely place. At night, men in boats approach 

 the birds feeding near by and without putting them up drive them slowly 

 in towards the nets ; when near enough, lighted torches are thrown at 

 the birds and thus suddenly alarmed they fly off low along the water and get 

 entangled in the nets. The owners then take them out, break their ivings 

 and very often their legs as ivell to prevent them escaping and in this state 

 keep them alive for days. My Shikari informs me that a good many are 

 sent to Karachi for sale there. 



Any day one can see four or five nets up and I believe that in a success- 

 ful drive as many as two to three hundred birds are obtained. 



