152 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



common teal, sand-grouse * (two varieties) , black 

 partridge, bittern, sarus crane, hares,f quail (two 

 varieties), snipe, green pigeon,f blue-rock pigeon, 

 wild boar, and pea-fowl. 



It was a pretty sight, and one that would de- 

 light a sportsman's eye. The deer and boar 

 depending from the ridge-pole to which they were 

 hung by their legs, and the small game in festoons 

 all round. All this had been bagged in three or 

 four days' shooting by officers in my regiment, 

 and, proh pudor ! the boar also ; but he met an 

 unworthy death at the hands of a youngster who 

 knew nothing of the charms or the unwritten laws 

 of hog-hunting. Can your game-larders, oh ! 

 sportsmen of Great Britain, boast such a show ? 

 I trow not. 



* Common sand-grouse (Pterocles exustus). Painted sand-grouse 

 (Pterocles fasciatus). 



f Lepus enficaudatus. The Indian hare is much smaller than the 

 English variety, rarely weighing more than 5 Ibs., and being about 

 eighteen to twenty inches in length. It goes to ground readily when 

 pursued. The flesh is dry and tasteless, and only fit for soup. The 

 black -naped hare (lepus nigricolis) is about the same size, and has 

 the same habits, but is peculiar to the southern parts of India and 

 Ceylon. 



J Crocopus chlorigaster. 



