NATUEALIST IN INDIA. 61 



magnified into a grand combat, and thus the plain of Aliwal 

 has been recorded as the scene of one of India's Marathons. 



The Indian ring-dotterel (Hiaticula pMlippina), peafowl, 

 common quail, black and gray partridges, are plentiful in 

 grain-fields. The green bee-eater is very common, and usu- 

 ally roosts at night iti societies, perching as close to each 

 other as possible ; in that way a string of from ten to twenty 

 may be often seen on one branch. The common mina and 

 its close ally the bank or gingi grackle are often noticed ; the 

 last is distinguished by its reddish bill and eyelids. Flocks 

 of this species were often seen on the banks of the Indus and 

 with cattle in the fields. In the middle of a tamarisk jungle, 

 many miles from human habitations, I found the skull of 

 a bullock suspended from the branch of a tree, and much 

 to my surprise a sparrow's nest and eggs were discovered in 

 the interior, showing that this species is not partial to 

 civilised life. 



Soon after leaving Loodiana, the stupendous Himalayan 

 chains, with their snow-clad summits, were seen far away 

 against the blue sky eastward. 



Daily, as we neared the lower or Sewalik range, the 

 scenery became more attractive. Dense jungles, or wooded 

 tracts of hill and dale, gladden the weary traveller, and cheer 

 up the invalid, on his way from the torrid plains. He must 

 indeed hail with delight the little village of Kalka, at the 

 foot of the mountains, the starting-point for those proceeding 

 to the sanatoria at Kussoulee, Subathoo, Dugshai, Simla. 



I can never forget how eagerly I longed to mount the 

 steep ascent before me ; for in a few hours you can be trans- 

 ported to a temperature of 70°, instead of 80° in the shade — 

 truly delicious, after the feverish heat of the plains, and the 

 dust and fatigue of a march in the month of April. 



