catch there and then. It was late in the year for Quail, which
arc generally found in greater abundance in the early part of
the cold season, but there were a few fields of millet
in the neighbourhood, and there was a chance of getting
a few birds. After hunting about for a time, my friend flushed
a covey,* and marked where they alighted ; then, making
a detour, he proceeded to set his traps, which consisted of a
scries of rectangular frames, made of laths, about two feet long
by one foot broad (a tightly stretched net occupying the interior
of each frame) joined at the ends, and folding up like a long
map. There were about a dozen of these frames, and the centre
one had an aperture in the net large enough to admit a
Partridge.
"With a few bamboo pegs the trapper soon arranged his
apparatus in the form of a semicircular wall, and behind the
hole in the centre frame he fastened a large net bag, propped
up with a few sticks. This clone, he ran back to the place from
which he had started the birds, and began to work his bullock
backwards and forwards, gradually, with each tack, ncaring
the hiding-place of the covey. Soon the little brown heads
were to be seen popping up from the grass, and then, seeing
that no immediate danger threatened, they edged off slowly,
as the bullock came nearer and nearer. By a little judicious
dodging, the trapper managed to get the birds within the sweep
of his nets, and then he waited.
" The stupid little things toddled on and on, till they were
stopped by the net, when they took off to the left, which was
quite a wrong direction ; so my friend, by a flank movement,
headed them again, and turned them back towards the centre
of the net. Now and then a silly bird would try and poke his
head through the meshes of the net covering the frames, but
none thought of hopping over. At last the leader came to
the hole in the centre. Ah ! here was a grand opportunity.
In he popped, and in popped all the others, and my dusky teacher
in the art of snaring rushed forward with a triumphant whoop,
and tied up the mouth of the bag with all the struggling Quail
inside."
Their capture with ordinary nets, as practised about Lucknow,
is thus described by Mr. Rcid :—
"Having selected the scene of his intended operations, generally
a dlial field surrounded by wheat or other corn-fields, the
trapper, towards evening, places his call-birds amongst the bushes,
and allows them to remain there for the night. Very early
next morning a net is placed over the dluxl bushes at one end of
the field, and, if long enough, is brought round the corners. Then,
from the opposite ends, the birds arc driven in the direction of the
* If this word is correctly used, then the particular birds operated on in this
instance must, surely, have been Hush Quail. Grey Quail never, I believe, go in
coveys in India.—A. O. II.
net, at first gently, but as the net is neared, vigorous and noisy
beating is suddenly resorted to, and the frightened birds rush
headlong into it This is generally the method adopted by the
professional Quail-catchers here, but amateurs and indigent Quailfighters
often catch male birds on their own account in trap cages
containing call-birds."
Coming in such countless multitudes as Quail often do, not only
mankind, but the " birds of the air and the beasts of the field" prey
largely on them, and many species of raptorial birds, foxes, cats,
mongooses, and the like, destroy numbers, the feathers of which
are to be seen scattered about everywhere, when they arc plentiful.
In some parts of the country they are hawked. I have never
myself seen this, but Colonel Tickell thus describes this rather
feeble sport:—
" In Singhbhoom, and in many parts of Central India, the Quail
is hawked by the natives. I have frequently been present at
this sport, which is tame but profitable. It is carried on entirely
on foot. A drove of cattle is driven as nearly into a line as
the unruly nature of the beasts will allow. The falconers, at
about ten paces apart, form a line in front of the herd, and thus
marshalled, the whole move slowly over the ground. The
numerous feet of the cattle beat up every bird that may have
been passed over by the men in front; and, as the Quail rises, the
nearest falconer throws his hawk at it, just as if he were
' shying' a stone. One would suppose that by such rude
treatment the hawk would simply be hurled to the ground and
killed or seriously injured ; but such an accident never occurs.
It is inconceivable with what skill and quickness the little Raptor
spreads out its tail and wings, glances along without touching
the earth, and, without an instant's check, continues its headlong
course till, in about thirty to fifty yards' flight, it clutches and
pins the Quail, bearing it to the ground. Its owner then runs
up, disengages the birds, smooths the Hawk's plumes, and grips
him again ready for another flight, while the Quail is introduced
to the game bag. Sometimes the former is allowed to taste a
little of the quarry's blood or brains, just to keep up 'the
interest of the thing.' The Hawks employed for this purpose
are a species of Sparrow-Hawk (Accipiter virgatus), vulgarly
known as the 'besra,' and a nearly allied species (Micronisus
badius), the 'shickra' of the natives. They are not carried on
the fist, as Falcons are when out in the field, but held in the
hand. The wings and tail being carefully closed and smoothed,
and the head of the little rapacious creature kept steadily to the
front, it is hurled (as above stated) like a javelin at the game
instead of being cast off as a Falcon is ; and, should it miss or
be unable to overtake the game, it perches quietly on a clod or
stone till taken up, if an old thoroughly-broken-in bird, or flies
off altogether, if not sufficiently reclaimed."