638 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



Government, no Indian species, except possibly the monal pheasant 

 {Lophophorus refulgens) seems in danger of early extinction. As to 

 count number two, notwithstanding this legislation, the plume hunter 

 continues to destroy birds useful to the cultivator. There remains the 

 third count of the charge, that of cruelty. Upon this I would lay 

 especial stress, for I am convinced that if ladies had even a faint idea 

 of the cruelty which plume hunting involves, they would, with one 

 accord, abstain from wearing any feathers save those of the ostrich 

 and various game birds. 



CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. 



The low-caste inhabitants of India are, I regret to say, not, as a 

 rule, characterized by kindness to animals. They seem quite unable 

 to appreciate the fact that animals can feel. I have often observed 

 donkeys staggering along so overloaded that at each step their hind 

 legs " brushed," and blood issued from the places where the friction 

 was greatest. I have seen, harnessed to a tonga, horses so exhausted 

 that they could scarcely stand. On one occasion a friend and I 

 walked a considerable portion of the journey from Rawalpindi to 

 Murree in July because some of the tonga horses provided for us 

 had not sufficient strength to pull the vehicle at more than a walking 

 pace. On our way up we actually came upon the body of a horse that 

 had dropped down and died from sheer exhaustion. We reported 

 the matter to the local government, and suitable action was taken. 



Some natives use what are known as " thorn bits," that is to say, 

 bits provided with sharp spikes, so that when the reins are jerked 

 these penetrate the flesh of the mouth of the unfortunate steed. 



In India fowls are always sold alive at market. The cook, when he 

 purchases a number of them, ties the legs of all tightly together, and, 

 holding the tied-up bundle of legs, he carries the poor creatures home 

 head downward. 



Wlien out shooting I find it necessary to examine every bird picked 

 up to make sure that life is extinct, as otherwise the coolie that carries 

 the " bag " will put living birds into the game stick, and there they 

 will hang suspended by the neck until they die. Since animals are 

 treated thus in everyday life, it is not pleasant to contemplate the 

 kind of treatment meted out to his victims by the professional bird 

 catcher — a low-caste man, brutalized by the constant butchery he per- 

 petrates. He brings down his victim by means of a pellet of dried 

 mud slung from a catapult, and wrapping the poor creature up in 

 his loin cloth, leaves it to die a lingering death. As likely as not, the 

 bird in question has a nest full of young ones. These starve to death. 

 Even white men are guilty of similar cruelty. Colonel Ryan, in the 



