96 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



Now let us turn to the other side of the shield 

 and see if there are not some points in the char- 

 acter of Caccabis chakor to redeem him from 

 being labelled turpissimus. The same qualities 

 that make the chakor anathema to people who 

 would walk him up, render him a really high- 

 class bird for driving ; for though his very tough 

 pair of legs enable him to run uphill at a pace 

 which defies the human biped, he has a rooted 

 objection to running downhill, in which respect 

 he resembles the mountain hare. Talking of this 

 quadruped, I was one day walking with my gun, 

 accompanied by a very diminutive specimen of 

 the Himalayan boy with my cartridges, when we 

 happened to put up a hare, which ran a couple of 

 hundred yards uphill and then sat up looking 

 at us. I was starting to walk after him when I 

 was stopped by my youthful companion, who 

 wanted to make a detour and come down on the 

 top side of him. Seeing hesitation in my eye, he 

 looked at me with wonder. " Don't you know," 

 he said, "that a hare has a very long pair of legs 

 behind and a very short pair in front, and that 

 if you come on him from below he'll run away, 

 whereas if you come on him from the top he 

 won't know which way to run and you will shoot 

 him ? " It is somewhat the same with our chakor ; 

 but in his case, though he will not run, he has no 



