148 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



native village. This habit generally makes most 

 sportsmen exclude him from their bag. 



Of quail, three varieties are most common, viz., 

 the grey, or European quail,* the black-breasted 

 quail,f and the bush quail.J The first two are 

 the largest, and fit to grace the table of any 

 bon vivantj though the little bush quail is by no 

 means to be despised. These latter are found in 

 the jungles, and are most provoking little crea- 

 tures, squatting even in a road till almost trodden 

 on, when up gets the whole bevy with a buzz all 

 round you, startling you out of your senses, and 

 often doing ditto to your horse should you be 

 riding. They always presented to my mind a 

 sort of c catherine-wheel ' of feathers, and they are 

 so small that this makes them rather more than 

 ordinarily difficult to make a bag of. 



I once, however, had my revenge on the little 

 rascals, though in rather a mean manner ; still the 

 circumstance of requiring something for the pot 

 must be my excuse. I was strolling home one 

 day after an unsuccessful beat for bears, with my 

 smooth-bore loaded with number seven shot in 

 my hand. Mechanically I had my eyes fixed on 

 the dusty jungle road I was walking on, in the 

 hopes of seeing a tiger's footprints, when a little 



* Coturnix communis. f Coturnix coromandelica. 



$ Perdicula cambayensis. 



