196 GAME-BIBDS OF INDIA 



" At last the falcon would be within striking distance of the 

 Hoiibara, there would be one lightning-like svvoop from the former 

 from far above, and then, if he struck true, the tragedy was over for 

 the bustard, and riding up we would find them in some small open 

 place and the Houbara dead, the hawk still grasping it on the 

 gi'ound. The men would then come up and secure the falcon, give 

 it a tit-bit to eat and then hood it again. 



" Eemounting our ponies and once more extending our line, we 

 would go on in the same way, and, if luck favoured us, might perhaps 

 get another Houbara. Not every time, however, were we successful, 

 for sometimes the Houbara would succeed in eluding the hawk once 

 and yet again, sometimes, indeed, escaping altogether. 



' By the time we had worked across the plain our appetites 

 would remind us that it was time for lunch, so, having selected a 

 suitable spot with some shade if possible, we would dismount and 

 partake of the good cold fowl and Pathan roti provided for us all by 

 Colonel Aslam Khan. 



' But the winter days soon close in, even in this land of sun, 

 and, after we had rested, a glimpse at the western sky showed us 

 that if we wanted any sport en route it was time we once more got 

 into our saddles. Accordingly, mounted once more, we would con- 

 tinue to beat back to the place where we had ordered our traps to 

 wait for us. If our luck were still in the ascendant we might get 

 another run or rather flight, but we generally considered that two 

 birds in a day was a good day's average. Arrived at the road, we 

 would say good-bye to Colonel Aslam Khan and drive homeward, 

 well wrapped up, for the winters in Peshawar are very cold, 

 pleasantly tired after a delightful day in the most perfect winter 

 climate in Northern India. 



" I am sorry to say that owing to the swift flight of Houbara and 

 hawk we were never up quite in time to see exactly what happened 

 at the kill or to see the hawk actually striking the Houbara. There 

 seemed to be always a lot of feathers about, and it looked as if there 

 might have been a bit of a tussle between the two, but they might 

 also merely have been knocked out of the Houbara from the force 

 with which, when struck by the falcon, it fell to the ground. We 

 noticed, too, that the Houbara always seemed to emit some secretion, 

 for there was generally a mess of this around." 



Mr. F. J. Mitchell in epistola also mentions this curious habit of 

 the Houbara. He writes "the Houbara when pursued often rises, 

 like a heron under similar circumstances. If he can get immediately 

 over the pursuing hawk he squirts him with a stinking gummy (anal) 

 liquid which sticks the hawk's feather,? together so that he cannot fly. 



