FHEASANT SJ/OOTINC; IN NORTHERN INDIA. 80) 



crumples up one as he comes towards me, the sooon 1 is nearly over- 

 head as I fire, and he goes on apparently unscathed. We clamber 

 up by a circuitous route and arrive at the top of the ridge again and 

 sit there for a minute wondering which will be the best way to go now 

 as the sun is well i\[> and there is no chance of hearing any more birds' 

 calling. In the distance we hear the tap, tap of the woodman's axe, 

 and soon a mighty crash denotes that some stately Paluda will no 

 longer grace these mighty forests ; but what is of more immediate 

 interest following on the crash there rings out the cry of several 

 male koklass far down in the valley below. The cry is far differ- 

 ent to that of the bird found in English coverts. All the same, they 

 respond to the same stimulus as their distant cousins in their western 

 home : for who has not heard the cock-pheasants in a home covert 

 set crowing by a sudden noise, such as the first clap of thunder of 

 a storm. 



This determines our way, so down we start until we come to a path 



my man knows of. The spaniel is encouraged to range chiefly above 



the path, as if she flushes any birds below they will most certainly 



f^scape unshot at. We work along round the valley, but although 



we know there must be birds somewhere, the little lady cannot find a 



scrap of scent until after a long search. On rounding a bend, she 



suddenly makes upwards, and I lose sight of her. A long wait, and 



then a distant yap ; a minute later and a dark form is seen gliding 



• lowu wards between the trees and curving away towards the side of the 



nullah. I fire as he comes, but the intervening branches are the only 



things at all injured, so I swing well ahead and fire again, but only 



realize as I press the trigger that the bird is putting on the brake hard 



with the intention of alighting on the side of the nullah. Down rushes 



the spaniel panting and exhausted, so I show her a pool of water in 



which she wallows for a-moment and then jumps out refreshed and ready 



tor anything, so I put her on the place where I last saw the pheasant, 



and without hesitation she dashes up and over a ridge dividing this 



from the next small nullah. I follow round below her hastily ; three, 



tour, five minutes pass, and I have visions of her lying beside a dead 



pheasant that she is too exhausted to carry ; but not so ; she agxiin gives 



tongue, and again the wily old bird dashes down. I swing on to him, 



and continuing the swing, catch him in the open space between two 



trees, although at the moment of pulling the tiigger I could not see 



