3754 Birds. 



The Chukar Partridge, (Caccabis chukar). — " About the same time [the middle 

 of March, 1848], I was invited by the Thannadar of Iskardo to be present at a hunt- 

 ing party, which he had arranged for the capture of the chakor, or painted partridge, 

 by surrounding a spot of ground, in which these birds are numerous, with a ring of 

 men, who, approaching from all directions, gradually form a dense circle of perhaps a 

 hundred yards in diameter. When the partridges are disturbed by a horseman in this 

 inclosure, they naturally fly towards the living wall by which they are surrounded. 

 Loud shouts and the beating of drums and waving of caps and cloaks, turn them back, 

 and they are driven from side to side, till at last, exhausted with fatigue, and stupid 

 from the noise and confusion, they sink to the ground, and allow themselves to be 

 caught by hand. The scene was a very striking one. The spot selected was a deep 

 dell, full of rocks, but without trees. The sport, however, did not seem so successful 

 as usual, six or eight birds only being captured. The chakor is an extremely com- 

 mon bird in all parts of the valley of the Indus, and indeed throughout Tibet. In 

 winter, when the hills are covered with snow, they are to be found in great numbers 

 close to the river, even in the immediate neighbourhood of the villages ; and in gene- 

 ral, when approached, they lie very close among the crevices of the stones." — From 

 Dr. Thomas Thomson's ' Western Himalaya and Tibet,' p. 261. 



Woodcock breeding in England. — My number of the ' Zoologist ' for September 

 last having been mislaid, it was only a day or two since that I saw articles in it re- 

 spectiug the " Breeding of the Woodcock in England.'' As the fact seems to be con- 

 sidered of rare occurrence, I think it may be acceptable to your correspondents to re- 

 record, that during a residence of eight years in the neighbourhood of Usk, in Mon- 

 mouthshire, I knew the woodcock to breed annually in several woods not far from ray 

 house. On the 1st of May, 1845, a young bird, nearly full grown, was brought to me 

 by one of my men, proving how early it must have been hatched. I believe this bird 

 to remain with us in every suitable situation for the purpose of breeding ; but large, 

 quiet, and deep woods are indispensably necessary to a bird of such shy and retired 

 habits. — William Knapp ; Harts Cottage, Alveston, Bristol, December 10, 1852. 



Unusually large Woodcock. — A woodcock was sent to me a short time since, killed 

 at Trengwainton, near this place, which, from its size and weight, I was induced to 

 place in the scales. It proved to weigh exactly 16 oz., which is a fact perhaps worth 

 communicating. — Edward Hearle Rodd ; Penzance, December 22, 1852. 



Note on the supposed Abundance of Woodcocks (Scolopax rusticola) in Norfolk. — 

 The great number of woodcocks which have been met with this season at some places 

 in Norfolk, is perhaps worthy of notice, and the more so as it would be, I think, desir- 

 able to ascertain, whether a corresponding increase has been observed in other parts 

 of the kingdom. But at the same time I have heard of so many instances in which 

 the number seen or killed during a day's shooting has fallen far short of what was ex- 

 pected, that I hardly think now, though at first I was of the contrary opinion, that the 

 country generally has been this season visited by a greater number than usual. I could 

 cite many instances, but as they would possess little beyond local interest, I will con- 

 fine myself to some extreme examples. In the first week in December, 30 and 33 

 were respectively killed, on two successive days, at Melton Constable near Holt; and 

 on the next day, the same shooting party bagged 93 in the Great Wood, in the ad- 

 joining parish of Swanton Novers. I have been informed on good authority, that no 

 such number as this last has been seen there for twenty years; and further, that at 

 least 110 might have been killed if the other game had been disregarded; but this 



