NATUEALIST IN INDIA. 153 



the soil, but from the circumstances and localities where it 

 is often observed, there can be little doubt that some unex- 

 plained electric or other condition is also connected with its 

 phenomena. I have seen it in the desert of Scinde and 

 lower regions of the Himalayas, but not in the rainless tracts 

 of Ladakh and Tibet. A thunder-storm seems to disperse 

 the fog, and leaves the atmosphere more or less clear for a 

 day or two afterwards. On the night of our arrival at the 

 lake we were awoke by a furious storm which nearly blew 

 our little tent away ; the roar of the thunder and the bril- 

 liancy of the lightning were perfectly appalling, whilst the 

 rain fell iu torrents. The whole did not last above an 

 hour, and left behind the usual cool and exhilarating weather, 

 so grateful to man and beast after days or weeks of fever- 

 ish heat. I well remember the enchanting scene on the 

 bright sunny morning following, as groups of red and white 

 flamingoes in long lines stretched along the shallows of the 

 lake, and flocks of ducks and other aquatic birds lined the 

 margins, or crowded in dense masses in the deeper parts ; 

 whilst from the jungle-clad hill on the right loud waUings of 

 peafowl, kept by the fakirs of the temple on its summit, re- 

 sounded across the valley, and the green bee-eater, the usual 

 successor of a storm, sailed around the copse under which 

 we were encamped, pursuing with the black Indian king-crow 

 the countless insects which come forth on these occasions, 

 especially white ants, which appear to afford a staple article 

 of food for bee-eaters, shrikes, and the large insectivorous 

 birds. 



Hocks of loi^legged plovers {Himantopus candidus) were 

 seen on the lake. It is a common bird on the weedy pools 

 of the Punjaub during the winter months. Specimens may 

 often be found with the legs bent and deformed, to which 



