180 GAME-BIRDS OF INDIA 



heat was intense ami already there was that shimmer in the atmos- 

 phei'e which foretold the greater heat to come. Lying flat on the 

 top of a stony ridge, the highest point in the neighbourhood, I 

 brought my binoculars to bear on the various points of the horizon, 

 and was rewarded by seeing no less than three lots of Bustard, one 

 consisting of eight birds, one of four, and a third of two grand old 

 cock birds. The fewer eyes to watch me, the greater the chance 

 of getting close, so I decided to first try for these last two birds. 

 They were a long way off, nearly a mile, so that for the first few 

 hundred yards no very great precaution was necessary ; moreover 

 there was a crack in the ground — one could hardly call it a water- 

 course — which led in the right direction for my stalk, and by stoop- 

 ing low I could make use of this for a good quarter of a mile without 

 much chance of being seen. Before making a start I located the 

 birds as being about half-way between two stunted ber-bushes about 

 100 yards apart, and as these bushes were some two or three feet 

 higher than the heads of the Bustard, they served as admirable 

 marks which I could keep in view without the risk of trying to see 

 the Bustard themselves. Down the water-course I went with 

 success until I arrived at a place where it was too shallow to allow 

 of my going any further except on all fours. Here, I wanted a 

 further look for my game, so getting behind a tuft of grass, I gradually 

 raised my head — covered with a helmet of the same colour as the 

 stones which lay scattered in every direction — until I could peer 

 between the withered stems. Both birds were still in the same 

 place and were engaged in the most curious antics, bowing and 

 scraping to one another, although there were no hens visible within 

 miles of them. Directly between myself and the Bustards the ground 

 was quite bare, but a little to my left, and some two or three hundred 

 yards nearer, there were a few bushes, and further on again were 

 others I hoped to be able to make use of. Working my way on 

 hands and knees up the rain-track, I got directly in line with the 

 bushes, and after I had wiped the streaming perspiration from my 

 eyes, continued, still on hands and knees, until I got behind their 

 shelter. Arrived here, I found I had to make my way in full view 

 of the Bustards — now about 600 yards away — before I could get 

 under cover of a big stone, whence I could again make my way to 

 another clump of bushes. Down I went on my waistcoat and, 

 yard by yard, covered fifty yards of open, halting for a few seconds 

 whenever the birds looked my way. At last I got behind the stone 

 and had a rest before recommencing another series of painful crawls 

 which were to take me to within shooting distance of my game. 

 The two ber-trees showed up well and kept me on what I believed 

 to be the correct line, and eventually I stopped under the shelter of 

 a couple of bushes and some tufts of grass, which I had estimated 



