156 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



them as game birds into Scotland, but their habit of keeping 

 to the ground and the difficulty of making them rise resulted 

 in the effort being given up. 



The pea-fowl were closer to my position but their 

 energies, save for a continuous and keen survey of the 

 surrounding neighbourhood made every now and then by 

 one or other of the birds, were entirely confined to the 

 search for food. What a handsome sight is a fine old 

 peacock seen in his natural surroundings in the Indian 

 jungle, and finer still when, his great tail feathers flaunting 

 to the breeze, he sails down over the tree-tops. He is never 

 so happy, however, as when dancing his extraordinary love- 

 dance before the hens. 



I had seen this performance once only when on my way 

 up to the hills at the beginning of the hot weather and the 

 extraordinary caperings and pirouettings and gyrations of 

 the male bird filled me with astonishment and laughter. 

 That such a proud-looking and splendidly plumaged bird as 

 the peacock should have developed this extraordinary dance 

 in order to make himself captivating to the hens, who may 

 be seen watching him most intently all the time, appears 

 little short of amazing, for the bird, to my eyes, seemed to be 

 making a ludicrous spectacle of itself and taking away from, 

 instead of adding to, his charms. However, his fair com- 

 panions evidently thought otherwise. 



This morning, I remember, I was in the humour to notice 

 the bird-life around me. Golden orioles flitted in the sun. 

 Fly-catchers glanced from the boughs of neighbouring trees, 

 swerved prettily in the air, and caught the insects they were 

 pursuing and returned with them to their perches. The 

 metallic notes of the coppersmith (one of the barbets) came 

 from a khair tree and the tap, tap, tap, in the forest on the 

 far side of the ravine told where a golden-backed wood- 

 pecker was at work, searching for insect grubs in the inner 

 bark or wood of a tree. 



i But the birds were not to have all the place to themselves. 

 A soft patter up-stream was a precursor to the sudden 

 appearance of some spotted deer. They were all does 

 though, with not even a small stag amongst them. A louder 

 noise made itself heard further up and again I grasped the 

 rifle. 



This time there was more to see and even envy, for a 

 sounder of pig appeared and grunted their way across the 



