112 Hall, The Jungle and the Snows. [^^ 



Emu 

 t Oct. 



a common bird, tliough 1 do not know the species. This beautiful 

 sliow of scarlet flowers, extending over hundreds of acres, and 

 broken by green foliage, makes a picture of great beaut}^ The 

 bombex, also red-flowered, offered good cover for many small birds 

 I did not identify, just as the moha and tamarind do. In one of 

 this latter a hundred fruit-bats (Pteropiis) came regularly within 

 two hours of the day dawn to camp for that day. In this part 

 of the jungle I was able to identify some of the larger animals, 

 as sambar [Cervus), blue bull [Boselaphns), cheetah {Cynalurns), 

 black buck {Antilope), and chinkarra ; leopard [Felis), dog {Canis), 

 and buffalo {Buhalus) being not so easily seen. This latter is 

 more in the west. The pariah dog and plough buffalo are very 

 .different from the wild ones. It was interesting, to see the return 

 to the villages of vast herds of domestic cattle every evening ; 

 great herds of long-legged and long-eared goats joined in the 

 morning, going, and evening, coming. It is a most destructive 

 animal where forestry is concerned. The bunder (Gavialis), with 

 its young, was gregarious and common, while muggers {Crocodilus) 

 were solitary and isolated. Wild pig was everywhere. 



Having spent between 10/2/18 and 3/3/18, I passed on from the 

 adjacent Bena Junction to Lahore. Here I found a picturesque 

 museum building and the nucleus of a good zoological garden 

 next to the Lawrence Garden. Sir Michael O'Dwyer, Governor 

 of the Punjab, takes rather a personal interest in the development 

 of these institutions. Having spent some time with His Honor, 

 I journeyed to Patiala, staying a short time at Amritzar, the 

 sacred city of the Sikhs. The golden temple is here. At Patiala 

 I spent four weeks as the guest of His Highness the Maharajah, 

 the chief of all the Sikhs, and who is at present in London repre- 

 senting India on the British War Council. From the palace 

 window I could see the building of a nest of the Golden Oriole 

 {Oriolus) — " my flash of summer light " ; this is the Indian Mango- 

 Bird. The Koel {Eudynamis) played about among the Indian 

 Crows throughout the day. I saw the black male and the spotted 

 mate, and noted the Koel was hunting for the nest of the Crow 

 in which to place its own eggs. Of the many species of Koel 

 ranging from India through Malaysia into Australia, the males 

 are scarcely different ; the females vary. Here, again, the palace 

 grounds were crowded with Mynas, many raiding the ripened 

 fruit of the loquat. The Ring-necked Parrot {Palceornis) was 

 numerous in the larger trees. The Indian region is comparatively 

 poor in Parrots, and I saw only two species, both of a genus which 

 does not range into Australia. A small white Owl (Strix), apparently 

 the Barn Owl, made a great fuss near my bedroom — a most un- 

 melodious talk by several of the species. The Racquet-tailed 

 Drongo {Chibia) loved to disport upon the telegraph wire, while 

 one day, in the polo ground, a Hoopoe (Upupa) showed itself and 

 all its beauty. Of the many gay birds I met this latter one had 

 a most engaging manner. On the oval it was proudly stalking 

 over the ground, tapping for worms just as the Thrush does in 



