A Mixed Bag in Southern India. 335 



brought down one, and was about to pull trigger on 

 another when a hare ran across about twenty yards 

 off. It did not take me a second to shift my aim, 

 and the hare rolled over, but when going up to it, 

 what was my astonishment to find a little further on 

 a cobra writhing on the ground, shot through the 

 head ! It was fully five feet long and thick in pro- 

 portion. As it was not quite dead, one of the coolies 

 soon hammered it to bits with the " lattee " he was 

 beating with, and throwing the carcase aside we went 

 on. Finding nothing but quail, I changed my 

 cartridges to those loaded with No. 10 shot, and as 

 the little beauties lay well and got up in threes and 

 fours, I had capital sport, and soon there were 

 pendant by their necks on my shikar stick eight and 

 a half couple. Of these, seven brace were corn 

 quail, three were the small button quail, which, 

 though charming to look at, are not worth much for 

 the table. Coming to the end of this rumnah, we 

 entered a piece of ground covered with prickly bushes 

 and with very many rocks scattered over half a 

 mile, with an extensive " bheel " beyond. Telling 

 the coolies to be doubly careful in beating, I 

 soon had the pleasure of starting a couple of the 

 painted rock pigeon or sand grouse, a small but lovely 

 variety, found in such places and generally only in 

 pairs. I brought one down with the right barrel, but 

 only wounded the other with the left. I knew it was 

 hard hit, but it flew along very strongly and I 

 thought I had lost it, when I saw it tower, and with 

 a splash fall into the " bheel," which was there very 

 narrow and shallow. Marking the spot as well as I 

 could, I went on with the beat. Two more pairs of 



