PTEROCLUEUS ALCHATUS CAUDACUTUS 291 



used to see many family-parties of two adult and one, two or three 

 yearling birds feeding together. The majority of the birds which 

 remained in the vicinity of camp after 2'0 p.m. appeared to be adult 

 birds. Adult birds are very noisy and pugnacious when only 

 wounded and they are very tenacious of life, which I am afraid 

 causes a great many birds to die a lingering death, although there 

 are always numerous birds of prey near by only too ready to 

 complete the work of the gun, The method of watering on the 

 jheel reminded me of a living cyclonic formation — a cloud of 

 thousands and thousands of birds wheeling in the air above and 

 a huge incessant moving funnel of birds going down to the water 

 and rising again, whilst hundreds remained standing in the water 

 drinking. So thickly do these birds pack that once, when hard 

 up for cartridges, I blazed off two barrels into one of the smaller 

 masses of birds, and picked up twenty-four. 



"During the fortnight from 12th to 2.5th November, we had 

 several excellent shoots from butts which we erected around this 

 marsh (a few acres in area) and the biggest bag was 273 birds — the 

 number of guns used to vary from four to eight, but the more one 

 shot this place, the more birds appeared to water there each morning. 

 Bound this marsh once the birds, really getting thirsty, began to 

 come in and were well on the move, the fun became fast and furious, 

 and one would get every type of shot imaginable. I have seen birds 

 coming along nicely overhead, drop like a stone as one's gun went 

 up, turn on to their backs and twist away at any conceivable angle. 

 I did not notice the angry cry of twoi twoi so often uttered in the hot 

 weather, but only the caa-'mg note. No matter how long one stayed 

 over the water the birds refused to be driven off, and immediately one 

 moved away they came down again in their myriads. In the middle 

 of October I saw a Pale ? Harrier stoop at a squatting yearling bird a 

 stone's throw from our camp, completely dazing it but failing to get it 

 away. I picked the bird up and found it uninjured. Hen Harriers 

 are always in the offing while one is shooting, and often try and carry 

 off wounded birds or distant kills, and Eagles are almost as bad. 

 These Sand-Grouse are evidently subject to fits, as the following 

 incident shows. Two officers had been out shooting and as they 

 returned to camp they saw a Sand-Grouse on a dung heap suddenly 

 fall over on to its head with wings outstretched and fluttering. It 

 staggered up on to its feet, and again fell on to its head, and then on 

 to its side and apparently expired. An orderly picked the bird up, 

 and while it was being examined, it suddenly recovered and flew 

 away, flying strongly. It may, of course, have been previously 

 pricked in the head by a shot. 



" In shape, especially on the wing, they seem to be strikingly 

 different to senegallus. The wings are comparatively shorter, 



