436 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII 
the “cock” is duly bagged. The beaters are now sent uphill to the top of 
that same shola and they beat it as usual for what it may contain in the way of 
jungle-fowl or other game, while I take up my‘stand on the opposite slope. 
Nothing at first is seen or heard except a miscellaneous crowd of jungle birds 
that always flee before the beaters ; commonest among them is the ‘‘ South 
Indian black Bulbul” (Hypsipetes ganeesa) a noisy bird that associates in small 
flocks keeping to the tops of the trees and continually uttering a harsh “ cheep- 
ing”’ sort of cry ; then come ‘‘ Grey-headed Flycatchers”’ (Culicicapa ceylonensis), 
“Small Green Barbets ”’ (Thereiceryx viridis), ‘‘ Nilgiri Blackbirds” (Merula 
simillima), ‘‘ Southern Red-whiskered Bulbuls ” (Otocompsa fuscicaudata), 
“ White-eyed Tits ” (Zosterops palpebrosa) and a host of others all in a mighty 
hurry to get away from the noise behind, while overhead is a party of “ Jungle- 
Crows ” (Corvus macrhorhynchus) which now circle round uttering their harsh 
warning caws, now congregate on the topmost branches of the tallest trees 
calling down curses on the human beings below. How one longs to fire a shot 
into the ‘‘ brown ” or rather ‘‘ black ”’ of these beastly crows to scatter them, 
but of what use would it be ? they would come back again before long making 
more of a fuss than ever. Nowa cry of “ koli koli” is raised by the beaters 
indicating that they have seen or heard jungle-fowl, and ‘look-out, Sir” as a 
cock and hen fly out of a dense tree ; but again no luck, these “ koli” are deuced 
cute, and they turn back over the beaters and fly back to the farthest extremity 
of the shola ; still the beaters come on and at last a pigeon, “‘ the Nilgiri Wood- 
pigeon” (Alsocomus elphinstoni) steals out quietly, sees me standing there and 
wheels back, but not fast enough, I catch him as he offers a ‘“‘ broadside ” on. 
Little use beating that shola over again as it is too large and the jungle-fowl if 
moved again, which is unlikely, would ten to one not face the open, so we carry 
on to the swamp near by spoken of yesterday by the shikari, in the hope of pick- 
ing up a “ishnap or two. Oh! these Nilgiri swamps ! they are responsible 
for a lot of bad Janguage ! the going is not like that in a paddy-field where 
although one may sink in pretty deep one knows what to expect and it is 
more or less plain sailing, allowing one to keep one’s eyes on the 
ground ahead ; these swamps are a massof traps for the unwary; it 
looks allright, not much water and plenty of long grass but this grass 
hides many a deep crack and crevice into which one stumbles almost 
at every yard; a step or two on fairly firm soil then in you go up to 
your thighs in slimy black mud just at the moment when a snipe elects to 
get up ! and there is no looking ahead, one has to watch and pick each step and 
trust to luck to be in time to look up and see a snipe if it rises. So we line out ; 
C. wisely keeps to the bank but I have to go into the middle as the swamp is too 
broad for me to command the whole of it from one bank, and the fun begins ; 
first one beater, then another takes a header into the grass and gets up covered 
with mud while I walk like a cat on hot bricks holding my gun muzzle up over my 
shoulder as the safest place for it while my left arm swings wildly like a semaphore 
asI try to keep my balance and also to save myself from going too far in when 
I do get a spill. No wonder only a couple of snipe is bagged under such condi- 
tions but then there is this also to be said—it is getting on in the season and I 
notice that although snipe are found in fair numbers (for Ooty) at the beginning 
of the season in the open swamps such as this one (my best bag this last season 
was 8} couple obtained early in November), later on they desert such places 
and are found much like woodcock under the bushes at the edge of the sholas 
which fringe some of the swamps. 
At last we are out of the swamp, hot and dirty and with our tempers consider- 
ably ruffled and in front of us is a steep and high hill over which we have to pass 
to get to the long nala where Anthony says I—but never mind ! such things will 
happen and it is just as well or the game would soon be shot out. Up we climb, 
and Lord! how we pump and blow; it is wonderful how hot one gets 
