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SOME NOTES ON THE GENUS GAPRIMULOUS 

 {NIGHTJARS) IN THE PUNJAB. 



BY 



Hugh Whistler, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 

 With a note on the Nightjars of Sind by Dk. C. B. Ticehubst. 



It has for some time past been apparent to me that our knowledge of the 

 Nightjars or Goatsuckers which appear in the Punjab is most incomplete. 

 The reasons for this are not far to seek. In the first place the genus 

 is a very difficult one to study from the nocturnal habits of its members, 

 and the fact that so far as my experience goes it is almost impossible to 

 distinguish the various species in the field unless the call notes are heard 

 and recognised. Secondly, even after an individual has been shot, specific 

 identification is not by any means easy unless the observer has previous 

 acquaintance with the dift'erent kinds, or has specimens available for com- 

 parison ; as the various characteristics do not readily lend themselves to 

 written description. 



Thirdly in addition to the above special reasons there is the general fact 

 that, until late years, the Punjab has been neglected Ornithologically 

 as much as any provincial area of India. 



Accordingly 1 recently collected all the records that were within my 

 reach so far as they concerned the Punjab (in the political sense including 

 certain mountain areas), or other contiguous areas, which might be expected 

 to throw light on the status of the birds in the Punjab. The result was to 

 show very clearly that in none of the six species concerned was our know- 

 ledge in any way complete ; indeed as regards several it is most incom- 

 plete. It then occurred to me that it might be of interest to publish the 

 result of my survey in the hope and belief that a clear view of these woeful 

 gaps might encourage the placing on record of individual records or other 

 particulars of interest, which must be within the knowledge of many of our 

 members. The size of the country, the sparseness of the European popu- 

 lation, the fact that such population is mainly oflicial and very busy, and 

 the entire absence of scientific proclivities amongst the Indian population, 

 are such that there is no possibility of the general and exhaustive know- 

 ledge of the avifauna which exists in the British Isles. It is therefore all 

 the more incumbent on those of us who are interested in the subject to 

 place in print such facts that come to our notice in order that they may be 

 available for the next observer in the area. In England the Ornithologist 

 everywhere is the heir to an exhaustive literature and an oral tradition, 

 and generally a personal introduction to the study of his scieuce. In In- 

 dia each observer in each district starts afresh, or after a considerable gap 

 of some twenty to forty years, and has to assist him but a scanty literature. 

 Under these circumstances there cannot be too strongly impressed on every 

 one the value and importance of recording observations however discon- 

 nected or fragmentary. , 



In these notes I have not touched at all on questions of plumage or oology, 

 but on these points too, more information is badly required. Writing, far away 

 from Museums and Libraries, with only a portion of my own books ana 

 specimens available I have doubtless overlooked some records, and snoum 

 be grateful to any one who would bring them to my notice. As i Have tnea 

 to emphasise above, this article is intended to emphasise not our kno^iejjg®' 

 but our lack of it, in the hope that some of the gaps may be quickly hllect. 



