Page:Madras District Gazetteers - Anantapur.pdf/33

PHYSICAL

DESCRIPTION .

13

though less so in the cotton-soil areas than on the red land. Good heads are very scarce however. Pig are plentiful and widely distributed.

Of the game-birds, peafowl are rare but are found in the Kóna-

Uppalapádu valley and in the jungles round about Kottakóta in Penukonda ; the Indian bustard is more often met with on the western side of the district than elsewhere ; sand-grouse occur in

special localities ; and partridges and several of the quails are common wherever the ground is suitable. Of the water-loving birds, snipe are scarce-two of the best places for them are the Pátakottacheruvu and Yerratimmarájucheruvu in the north of Gooty taluk-several kinds of teal and duck occur on the larger tanks and barred-headed geese

are met with now and again. The tanks dry up completely every year so that hardly any of them are surrounded by any growth of reeds or long grass. This naturally makes them poor places for snipe or waterfowl as there is no cover for the one or feed for the other.

The Bóyas are the chief shikáris. They drive black-buck into nets, employing the usual rope decked at frequent intervals with feathers, which these animals are afraid to cross, to guide them towards

the place where the nets are set. They capture hares in the same way. On the Telugu New Year's Day they also organise great drives for pig. The natives catch duck and teal by the old trick of sending chatties drifting about a tank until the birds get used to the sight of them and then swimming into the middle of the flock with a chatty over their heads and pulling the birds quickly under water by the legs.

CHAP. I. FAUNA. Game.