40 THE CHEER PHEASANT. 



miss at a gooral and lost one wounded. We came upon a 

 sounder of wild pigs, but did not manage to circumvent 

 them. The " bunneyl," as the hill-men call it, is frequently 

 met with in these mountains, where " pig-sticking " being 

 impracticable, it may be considered fair game for the rifle, 

 and native shikarees think a solitary old hill-boar quite as 

 ugly a customer to deal with as a tiger. The only game 

 bagged was a " cheer " pheasant, a handsome bird something 

 resembling our own hen-pheasant, but lighter in plumage and 

 larger. It is generally found on the higher hill-tops of the 

 middle and outer ranges, among wooded crags. Although 

 cheer are never very plentiful, they are, as a rule, easily 

 shot when found, but they sometimes lie very close among 

 long grass or bushes. On coming by chance across a brood 

 of cheer, when after larger game that I did not care to dis- 

 turb by firing, I have even flung stones at them as they 

 sat among the rocks, before they flew. But they are not 

 always so easy to find when wanted, as I know from tlie 

 time and trouble it once cost me to secure a single good 

 specimen, which I was very anxious to shoot for a collection 

 of Himalayan game-birds I was trying to make before I 

 left Shore. 



There was a craggy hill-top a few miles off, known as 

 the Drill-peak — so named, it was said, from an eccentric 

 commandant of the outpost having been in the habit of 

 punishing his defaulters by sending them, in heavy marching 

 order, to the summit and back, whilst he watched their 

 ascent, with a telescope, from his quarters. This hill was 

 reputed to be an almost certain find for these pheasants 

 about dawn ; so one morning I turned out several hours 

 before daylight, and started with Kurbeer for its summit. 

 On reaching our ground, just as morning broke, sure enough 

 we heard the cheer calling loudly, and seemingly quite close 

 below us. But after searching for them among tlic long 

 grass for hours, we had to return without having seen a 

 feather. Next morning we rej)eated the experiment, with 



