5718 Birds. 



only be approached with the greatest caution : when feeding at early 

 dawn I have found the best time for shooting them, and I know 

 nothing much more exciting than seeing several of these elegant 

 birds feeding together in a glade or on an open patch on the skirts 

 of the jangle, for they seldom move far from cover, to which 

 they retreat at the least noise or appearance of danger. The male 

 birds, in their wild state, are still more magnificent than the tame 

 ones, and are much prized by the sportsman, although their flesh is 

 somewhat dry and insipid, and much inferior to that of most other 

 kinds of game. 



Sand Ptarmigan or Rock Pigeon of Southern India [Lagopus 

 arenaria; Ganga unibande ofTemminck; Sand Grouse of Latham). 

 From the description given in Temminck's ' Manuel d'Ornithologie,' 

 I believe it to be the species commonly known in Southern India as 

 the rock pigeon, but which I have, for want of a better, named Lagopus 

 arenaria, considering that, both in its form and habits, it bears a far 

 greater resemblance to the ptarmigan than to the grouse. Those shot 

 by me have not only varied much in plumage, but I have rarely found 

 two exactly alike. It is a handsome bird, its elongated form giving it 

 a remarkably elegant appearance when seen on the wing : the legs are 

 short and feathered, as well as the toes ; reddish brown, black and light 

 yellow, are I think the prevailing or dominant colours, blended with 

 cinereous, ferruginous, or pale chestnut, harmonizing well with the arid, 

 sandy and rocky character of the desert-like tracts where alone they 

 are to be met with, and where they lie crouched and concealed amidst 

 the chaotic masses of granite, as well as rocks and stones with which 

 these vast and boundless plains are strewn and dotted. Many of the 

 rocks are of gigantic size, giving to the scenery a peculiarly grand 

 and impressive aspect, and the deep solitude that ever reigns is so 

 complete that the sudden apparition of a human form would be 

 startling. No wonder, then, if the whirring, whistling sound of the 

 rising pack should unnerve the hand of the novice, seeing that the 

 sport is necessarily followed without the aid of dogs, so that one never 

 knows when or where to expect them, not unfrequently rising behind 

 the gunner, who has then to wheel round and take a snap or chance 

 shot, a second being seldom obtainable. Strange to say, this diminu- 

 tive grouse or ptarmigan is held in no estimation by the Indian sports- 

 man — why or wherefore I never could discover, but think it may partly 

 have arisen from its being most unaccountably and absurdly misnamed 

 pigeon, for we know there is after all much in a name. The flesh is 

 dark and game-like, with streaks or layers of white, but, like most other 



