Compared with the Grey Lags, this species is far more essentially
a river, or very large lake bird. I do not mean to say
that you never find them in swamps or moderate sized broads ;
on the contrary, I have repeatedly seen them in such, but I mean
ihat for one that you meet with in these, you will meet with
hundreds on or near the banks of rivers.
Very few people have any idea of the truly countless myriads
of this species that visit Upper India, because very few people,
now-a-days, boat steadily along our larger rivers. Indeed, they
rarely see these except in the neighbourhood of some large
town, or where they are crossed by some regular line of traffic,
and of course in such places few Geese are to be seen.
In a length of ten miles on the Jumna, immediately below its
junction with the Chambal at Bhurcy, I have seen more than ten
thousand Geese in a morning;. Large flocks of from one to five
hundred or more on one or other bank, or on some sandbank,
every quarter of a mile at least. One must boat steadily down
one of the larger rivers in the Punjab or the North-West Provinces
in December, January, or February, in order to realize
the vastness of the multitudes of the Barred-headed Geese that
yearly visit us.
Their habits arc similar to those of the Grey Lags. Where
frequently disturbed, they feed inland only at night; where rarely
molested, they will be found feeding up to eight or nine in the
morning and again long before sunset. The day, or at all
events the warmer hours of this, they pass by the water's side.
They feed in fields, preferentially in those in the immediate
neighbourhood of the larger rivers, browsing on the young wheat
or waddling awkwardly amongst the heavy clods, amidst which
the gram grows, to devour the young shoots, or later the ripening
pods of this vetch. All vetches, lentils, grain, tender grasses,
and herbs, seem equally to suit their taste, and so long as these
are available they eat nothing else, and by the end of December
(thin and poor as they usually are when they first arrive), they
are generally in fine condition.
All I said as to the edibility of the Crane and the Grey Goose
applies equally to this species. You will find them good or bad
eating according to their condition and antecedents. Here, too,
you should always select for the table the young birds, which,
though quite fat, do not weigh above 5 lbs. at the outside.
As for shooting, they afford any quantity of this when attacked
by water in the manner which I have fully explained
when treating of the Grey Lag. I have bagged 44 of this
species, besides Grey Lags, Cranes, Ducks, &c, in a single day on
the Jumna just below its junction with the Chambal. But the
quality of the sport afforded is a matter of opinion, and some
soon come to consider it monotonous. To me this river shooting
is always a delight. I float luxuriously over the glittering water
fanned by the fresh cool breeze, always blowing along the valleys
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 Fowl or a Ravine Deer, an Otter, a Crocodile
or a big Turtle on the banks, offers a fascinating if difficult
rifle shot; now a little swampy bend, certain to harbourafewSnipe,
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 circumventing,
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 appreciation
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 enthusiastically
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.
" A t the best of times, and under the most favourable circumstances,
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. IE