208 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
One of the most thoroughly equipped animals for both attack and defence 
that I have come across, was a large black ant, three-quarters of an inch long, 
which was common in Somaliland. This insect was of stout build with very 
hard black casing, and carried an immense pair of nippers in front, with which 
he could inflict a most-severe bite. In addition he used to emit when irritated 
an appalling odour, by reason of which he is generally known as the “ corpse ”’ 
ant. It used to be very amusing to see a couple of British officers earnestly 
engaged in inducing a “corpse ” ant to quit their tent by guiding him gently 
with bits of twig so as to avoid the fetid result of annoying him. 
To return to hawks. I sometimes used to ride down a hare on the Arori Plain 
in Somaliland, keeping on him till I killed him by striking him on the head with 
the short handle of a camel whip which I swung by the leather thong, or else he 
squatted so dead-beat that I could jump off my pony and pick him up. Twice 
when I had an exhausted hare in front of me, an eagle swooped down and made 
repeated attempts to deprive me of the fruits of the chase. Once I only succeeded 
in rescuing my dinner by riding over the pirate, actually hitting him with my 
whip as he rose under the pony’s nose. 
The Arori Plain was a great place for Secretary Birds, which used to give a 
weird display when killing a snake or lizard ; banging their prey with their 
wings, stamping on it violently, and giving one the impression at a distance 
that one was watching an unusually energetic war-dance by a Red Indian Brave. 
The Hammer-head Storks, other queer denizens of the country, were wont to 
build a huge thatched nest of sticks in the top of some moderate sized tree. 
There was one in the top of adead ‘“ guda ”’ thorn tree close to one of my shoot- 
ing camps, and watching the owners enter it’ was a source of unending interest. 
The nest was at least five feet in diameter and the caves overhung the tunnel-like 
entrance which sloped up towards the centre. To enter this the bird would fly 
clumsily round two or three times until sufficient speed had been obtained ; then, 
approaching the entrance, it would suddenly close its wings and shoot up 
into it, the whole performance looking rather like a wind-blown umbrella suddenly 
collapsing and bolting up a rabbit hole. 
A most impressive flying performance is often given by choughs in Baltistan 
in the spring. A small flock (of a dozen to fifteen as a rule) will circle up into 
the sky with loud ringing cries until they are mere speck against the blue. Then 
one after the other in rapid succession, they close their wings and drop like plum- 
mets at a dizzy speed till within a few feet of destruction on the rocks, then spread _ 
their wings again and sail up to perch happily together on the hill-side. This 
performance is gone through several times during the day, the object apparently 
being to show off their flying powers by as near an approach to destruction 
as possible. 
A very delicate operation in the flying line is sometimes to be seen at the south 
end of the Tsokr Chumr lake in Ladakh. Here there are some broken rocky 
cliffs in which the Brahminy Ducks (or Ruddy Sheldrake) breed in large numbers. 
When the young are hatched the parents (or perhaps the female only) have to 
carry the young down to the lake. This they do by tucking them in between 
the neck and shoulder, and it is very interesting to watch an old duck start with 
short wing-strokes and then do a long vol-plane down to the shore, occasionally 
cocking her head round to see to the safety of her youngster. These ducks are 
sometimes found far from water and I once walked into a brood of fluffy ducklings 
of this species on the Kiangchu Plain, which is waterless except for a couple of 
small springs. These Brahminy, usually so wary in India, were much more con- 
fiding than the Bar-headed Geese which breed at the south end of the Tso Moriri 
lake. There I vainly tried in August 1911 to obtain a tender gosling for dinner, 
but found them much too alert. 
There is a Kiangchu, or ‘‘ wild horse water ” here also, but it belies its name 
or I saw no Kiang there, but only a beautiful red fox, which I came on while he 
