on the Moorhens atid Coots of India. 171


a.m., four of us started for t\\\s Jheel to shoot, knowing that before

the sun was well up was the best time to get anything. I must

admit it was with some reluctance we left our warm beds, and

after hastily dressing and swallowing a cup of tea, mounted our

horses and rode off; our servants having gone on ahead with our

guns and ammunition. The day was just dawning as we arrived

at the Jheel side, and clouds of mist were rising off the water.

Our boats were the ordinary country "dug outs" and leaked

horridly. However making our boatmen fetch us a heap of

straw we lined the bottom of the boats with this and made our-

selves as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. A

confused murmur of sounds reached our ears out of the fog, and

as the now rising sun caused the banks of mist to lift and roll

away we could see a goodly company of fowl including thousands

of Coots. Stealthily creeping up in line, on passing a clump of

rushes a few teal were flushed and a right and left dropped a

couple. The noise of the guns broke the spell, which was

answered by a roar of wings, as the ducks now alarmed rose in

every direction. The Coots merely fluttered a short distance

then settled again, and it was not until more shots had been fired

that they left the water finally and circled round the boats with

quickly beating wings. The fun now became fast and furious,

alternate duck and coot were dropped, until at length tired of

slaughter a truce was called.. The majority of Coots were given

to the boatmen, only a few being reserved by ourselves for soup.

Let anyone beware how he handles a wounded Coot, for these

birds will scratch like a cat, very often inflicting a nasty sore

place, as I know to my cost.


Natives snare numbers of Coots by means of nets. The

wretched birds have their legs then broken to prevent them

escaping, and are sold alive in the Bazaars until death mercifully

intervenes and puts an end to their sufferings. Coots are very

pugnacious birds, especially in the breeding season, when rival

males can be seen chasing each other away from their own

special part and fighting furiously. A very handsome bird the

Coot looks in fighting attitude, as with raised wing and all its

feathers puffed out it dashes at its opponent in true pugilistic

style. They are not adepts at diving and a wounded bird in cleat—



