MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 999 



in a hurry. This was the case with a Hodgson's Hawk Eagle (S. nepalensis) I 

 caught in Kashmir, I knew him well by.his wanting a crest and one wing 

 feather The former was noticed while sitting and the latter when flying 

 and he was always to be found in a deodar forest near my camp. The very 

 6rst day I saw him, I caught him within 2 minutes of putting up my net and a 

 pigeon behind it, but he escaped out of my hand shortly after. From that 

 time on I tried him with nets and nooses, with fowls, doves, chikor and even 

 an irresistible rat, but all to no purpose, and nothing would induce him to 

 come again. One evening, however, I watched where he roosted for the night, 

 and before it was light next morning I had gone and set my nooses, with a rat 

 as the bait, and hid in a cave close at hand. As soon as it was sufiBciently light 

 to see, he came down without hesitation and was caught. 



It was instinct that led to his capture in the first instance and in the last — 

 a natural impulse, when hungry, to pounce on anything, more especially so, 

 when that thing appeared in difficulties and unable to fly or get away ; but it 

 looks very like reason that kept him from coming, the dozen or so other times, 

 I tried for him. Sometimes he flew away as soon as I began putting up my 

 nooses or net, even a couple of hundred yards away, and at other times, he 

 simply sat on, but would not come down. When he saw me put up the net, 

 he said to himself: — "' Oh, there he is again at his old game, but I have been 

 there once, and never again". 



On the last occasion, he had not seen me and came down at once. Some 

 bii-ds show much more intelligence than others. I have known falcons to 

 come down full speed and pull up dead at the net and go to one side, or over 

 it, but would not go into it, whereas a pair of red-headed mei-lins (^Ae.chi- 

 quera) on one occasion, actually seemed bent on being caught. The net had 

 been put up a little too taut and would not give or fall, and first the tiercel 

 came down, hit up against the net and fell back on to the ground ; then he 

 made another attempt with the same result. In the meantime, the female 

 came down and fared no better, but the net gave a little this time, and the 

 sticks supporting it bent slightly. Then they both ran at it, to get to the 

 quail on the other side, got their heads through the meshes and strained 

 and pulled and fluttered, but would not give up, till finally the sticks fell 

 and both were caught. A sparrow hawk {Accipiler nhuii) I once caught in a net 

 over a quail, got out of a hole in the net, just as I got up to him, but came 

 down again 20 minutes later, for a sparrow, within 30 yards of where 

 he had been caught before, into the same net, but did not get off that 

 time. 



The irresistible impulse of going for anything in difficulties, I should 

 say was instinctive, but noi to go for it, or pull up the moment the net is 

 spotted as something suspicious and to be avoided, I can only put down to 

 reason. 



I do not wish to appear dogmatic, and only give these instances and my 

 theories, for what they are worth 

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