68 INDIAN Dl'CKS. 



On tbo Br;iliiii;n»utrii. the only i-i\cr on wliicli I h;i\c niudc rc^iular 

 dttenipt.< to >lioot tlicni. \ liiivc found them just as wary in fhe ini(hJle ot" 

 the day a.s at any other time, and no amount ot" care or precautions hav(! 

 ena})led me to a})proacli within sliot, excejtt in exce})tionul cases. A\'e ih'd, 

 however, sometimes «ret within shot of tliem in the early morning, wh<'n the 

 mist was still heavy on the watci-, and the con\('rsati()nal '" gag, gag, gag, 

 gag " of the geese was our only guide to their whereabouts, until we got 

 well within shooting distance. Even then it was always necessary to shoot 

 directly the mist rose, or we were near enough to make out their shadowy 

 forms. Rarelv good hags were made hy enthusiastic s[)ortsmen who dug 

 holes in the sand, on some sandbank in the line of flight, ami having got 

 into these, waited for them an hour or so before dawn. 



They are not much of a hand at diving, and give more trouble when 

 wounded l)y struggling along out of shot. Of course they do dive, and 

 pretty quickly, when hard pressed, but they cannot stay under water for any 

 length of time, nor do they ever hold on to weeds below the surface of the 

 water, as do many ducks, and so avoid the sportsman. They soon rise 

 after diving, and seldom far from where they enter the water, so that they 

 can be easily shot on ap[)earing. Hume says that he has seen one goose 

 taken off by a crocodile ; but if he had shot more on the tidal waters on 

 the liengal side, where the snub-nosed man-eating brute has his abode, I am 

 sure he would have seen many a fat goose and delicate duck disappear 

 down their Avide maws. Any big bird not recovered almost as soon as 

 shot is just as likely to form a nmnnern dinner as it is to form that of the 

 person shooting it. Although bad or rather indifferent divers, thev are 

 very good swimmers, and a broken-winged bird gets along the surface o£ 

 the water with great ra[)idity. On the wing they are very swift when once 

 started, and are active an<l graceful as well. They fly, as everyone knows, 

 in the form of a \J^ generally one with a very obtuse point, and often with 

 one wing longer than the other. They are noisy birds and their cackliugs 

 and cries and trumpets are, on ordinary occasions, far from soul-stirring, 

 but, as Hume says, when on the wing, high up, the loud trumpeting calls 

 are very sonorous and mu>ical. Especially is this the case when, late in 

 the evening, or in the very early dawn, the sportsman, crouched low in some 

 ambush, waits eagerly for the welcome sound that tells of the ai)proach of 

 his game. To me this form of sport is very fascinating for a few hours, 

 though 1 admit that it recpiires great patience, as it i> often a long wait 

 between the flocks as they come within reach, and often the temper is tried 

 by the persistent way birds continue, one flock after the other, to flv past, 



