AiSriMAL LIFE ALOXG THE JUMNA. 59 



however, so at the end of about every fifteen minutes he would dash 

 off into a variation of " Ram -Eam-Eam-Ram-Eam," which always 

 afforded us quite a rest, prior to the next instalment of " Sita- 

 Ram." Sleep was out of the question so long as that perform- 

 ance continued. I could not count the fellow's prayers, but I 

 timed him and ciphered out the number in that way. He began 

 to pi'ay at twenty minutes past three o'clock and kept it up until 

 ten minutes to five ; and during that time he uttered the name of 

 Rama and his consort at least once every second, which made sixty 

 prayers to the minute, or altogether about five thousand four hun- 

 dred prayers that morning before breakfast. AU very well in its 

 way ; but after that we took care not to tie up near any other boat, 

 lest another boatman should be taken with Sita-Ram in the middle 

 of the night. 



On the way up the river we devoted much of our time to col- 

 lecting large birds, which frequented the river in greater variety 

 and gTeater numbers than I ever saw in any one locahty. 



Saras cranes fed in pairs in the fields, along the banks, or stalked 

 majestically over the sand-bars in flocks of six to thirty. Except- 

 ing the large snow-white whooping crane of America (Grus Ameri- 

 canus) the saras crane (Gj^us antigone) is the largest and hand- 

 somest of the genus. The saras stands over foiu* feet high, and 

 is of a pale bluish color, except the head and nape, which are al- 

 most bare and of a dark crimson tinge. On the uplands they 

 nearly always go in pairs, and although their cry sounds at first like 

 the note of one bird, it is in reality a double cry made up of a low 

 short note from the female, immediately taken up and improved 

 upon by the male. The second cry always follows the first in- 

 stantly, and it requires sharp watching for a stranger to detect the 

 true manner in which it is made. It is, as a whole, very loud and 

 clear, and would be noted musically about as follows : 



f 



with the interval of the fifth much slurred. 



These cranes sometimes cut some of the queerest antics ever 

 indulged in by sober and dignified birds. Several times I have 

 seen a whole flock indulge in a regular dance upon a level sand- 

 bank. While the birds are idly stepping about, one suddenly 

 flaps his long wings several times in succession, another jumps 

 straight into the air, and, with one accord, they throw off their dig- 



