Oldsarge,

The Shikra is a kind of falcon. They can be trained to hunt and were in the old days. Falconry is not practised in India now as far as I know though it is in Pakistan.

Pigeon racing is still practised and we used to have a dovecote at my grandfather's house in George Town when I was a boy. Our old home has been torn down and a commercial building put up on it but one of the oldest families in this part of India, the Rodrigos, still have a huge home where they have a dovecote in Madras. I shall try to contact the youngest Rodrigo son Flavian who was my classmate in school many years ago and get some material from him.

They used to have a pigeon breeders magazine in Madras until the 70s when the Vieyras, Rodrigos, Gozmaos, Gomes etc participated actively in this sport. As an aside, my father is an ophthalmologist and many of the older breeders would come to him in their old days asking him to help so that they could look at birds' eyes and judge them. Many of the mixed-blood families moved to Australia after the 70s when Australia opened it's doors to them. I have no idea whether they practise pigeon racing and many of the other old sports over there but some of the other members may be able to talk about this.

Good hunting!