Notices of Books. 9397 



state he makes no hesitation in offering battle to every animal, and 

 pecks very fiercely, always searching for a tender part; the nose of a 

 dog, or the naked feet of the native servants, immediately attract his 

 attention, and he soon makes the object of his attack fain to run.' 

 ' When reclaimed,' says another writer, ' this bird is pecnliarly bold, 

 fearless and entertaining. It trots about the house, and is familiar as 

 a little dog. It is amusing to see its antipathy to quick motions in 

 others. It will follow a servant who hurries into a room, pecking at 

 his heels, scouring away when he attempts to turn upon it. It is still 

 more persevering against the poor wight who moves backwards and 

 forwards as he pulls the punkah. Half asleep at his task, he is 

 aroused by a fierce attack on his legs. He attempts to continue his 

 work, and at the same time to drive away the intruder, but it is of no 

 use ; and he is at last obliged to call for assistance to rid him of his 

 persecutor.' The hen-chukor lays from eight to fifteen eggs, of a 

 creamy white according to one writer, pure white according to Adams ; 

 and the male bird is said to remain near the nest during incubation, 

 and may be heard calling all day, its call much resembling that of the 

 domestic hen, being a 'cuc-cuc' often repeated, and the Cashmeeres 

 call it 'Kau-kau' from its cry. The Affghans call it the 'fire-eater.' It 

 is considered to be excellent eating. In Ladak it is said to be nume- 

 rous in the cultivated part of the country, and is there called ' Nek- 

 pa.'"— P. 565. 



" The Indian Bustard (Eupodotis Edwardsii). — The bustard fre- 

 quents bare open plains, grassy plains interspersed with low bushes, 

 and occasionally high grass rumnahs. In the rainy season large num- 

 bers may be seen together, stalking over the undulating plains of the 

 Deccan or Central India. I have seen flocks of twenty-five and more, 

 and a writer in the ' Sporting Review' n)entions having seen above 

 thirty on one small hill. This writer states his belief that they are 

 never seen in any district that is not characterized by hills as well as 

 plains ; but this, from my own experience, I would merely interpret 

 that they do not frequent alluvial plains, but prefer the undulating 

 country ; for I have seen them on extensive plains, where there were 

 merely a iew ridges or eminences, and nothing deserving the name of 

 a hill close at hand. Towards the close of the rains, and in the cold 

 weather before the long grass is cut down, the bustard will often be 

 found, at all events in the heat of the day, concealed in the grass, but 

 not for the purpose of eating the seeds of the roussa-grass, as the 

 writer above alluded to imagines ; rather for the large grasshoppers 

 that abound so there, and which fly against you at every few steps you 



