THE BARRED-HEADED GOOSE. 85 
of our larger rivers. Around me are all my little luxuries; in my 
lips the peaceful pipe—guns of various sizes ranged orderly at 
hand. Now an old Pea Fow! ora Ravine Deer, an Otter, a Croco- 
dile or a big Turtle on the banks, offers a fascinating if difficult 
rifle shot ; now a little swampy bend, certain to harbourafew Snipe, 
or a tempting gram patch, just under the cliffs, a sure find for 
‘two or three brace of Grey Partridges, invite one to land for a 
few moments. Ever and anon a flock of Cranes, or a knot of 
Fowl of one kind or another, afford scope for careful circumvent- 
ing, and whenever nothing else appears, there is always a flock 
of Geese to work judiciously. And, simple as it may seem, it 
takes much practice and a good deal of judgment to make the 
most out of a flock; any one may knock over two or three, but to 
get ten to sixteen with the first shot, requires a careful apprecia- 
tion of distance, whilst still in a reclining position, an accurate 
perception of the exact moment at which to fire, attention to the 
slope and set of the ground and to a dozen other minor points, 
all of which deprive this sport of the purely mechanical character 
it may at first sight seem to assume, while the subsequent 
chase after the winged birds adds a not unpleasant additional 
element of excitement, especially, when towards noon, the wind 
rises and careful management of the clumsy native “doonga” 
is necessary to avoid a ducking. 
On land again, whilst feeding, they may be stalked just like, 
but more easily than, the Grey Lag Goose, and Mr. Reid (who 
clearly knows nothing of river-shooting) writes to me enthusi- 
astically of another method of killing these Geese. He says :—- 
“The Barred-headed Goose is unquestionably the most 
abundant of all, and is met with all over the Lucknow Division, 
generally in fairly-sized and frequently in immense flocks. 
During the night, like the Grey Goose, they collect in countless 
numbers on their favourite feeding grounds, and break up into 
companies as they leave them in the morning for the larger 
jhils or rivers where they repose during the day. 
“The number of sportsmen in this country who waste their 
energies and powder in unsuccessful attempts to shoot this 
and the Grey Goose in the day time, is sufficiently large to 
justify some general observations on the subject. 
“At the best of times, and under the most favourable cir- 
cumstances, it is unprofitable work* to attempt to shoot Geese 
during the day. In the early morning, when leaving their 
feeding grounds, which they generally do when the villagers 
commence to knock about, they may be intercepted and shot 
as they fly leisurely along, at no great height, to the large 
jhils or rivers to which they invariably resort for the day, and 
where, in spite of duck guns and punts, they will tease and 
worry the gunner. 
* Quite so, if you don’t know how to do it—A., O. H. 
