10 THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD. 



have closely watched the whole process through binoculars. 

 First the male begins to strut about, holding his head up as 

 high as if he wanted to lift himself off his legs ; then, after a few 

 turns, he puffs out the upper part of the throat just under the jaws, 

 then draws it in again, then puffs it again, and so on two, three, 

 or four times, and then, suddenly out goes the whole throat 

 down to the breast, and that part of it next the latter swells 

 more and more ; his tail, already cocked, begins to turn 

 right back, over the back, and the lower throat bag gets bigger 

 and bigger, and longer and longer, till it looks to be within six 

 inches of the ground. All the feathers of the throat stand out, 

 and, looked at in front, he seems to have a huge bag covered 

 with feathers hanging down between his legs, which wabbles 

 about as he struts here and there, with wings partly unclosed, 

 and occasional sharp snappings of his bill. From time to time 

 he utters a sort of deep moan, and stands quite still, and then 

 off he struts again close up to the female, and then away from 

 her. On both occasions that I witnessed these antics, the 

 excitement seemed gradually to relax, and no connubialities 

 resulted. Whether this is usually a prelude to such, or a 

 mere nautch for the edification of the female, like the Peacock's 

 grand display, I cannot tell, but I am inclined to believe the latter. 



In parts of the Punjab, and doubtless elsewhere, the native 

 fowlers are very expert in noosing them. A small party is 

 descried in the middle of a plain. The fowler, with a blanket 

 folded over head and shoulders, native fashion (or at times 

 driving a trained bullock before him), and a large supply of 

 pegs and gut nooses at his girdle, circles, slowly approaching 

 nearer and nearer, round the flock. By little indications, 

 inappreciable to us, he discovers the direction in which, 

 if slightly and cautiously pressed, the Bustards will walk. 

 Across this line of march, sauntering slowly backwards 

 and forwards, and pretending to cut and collect grass the 

 while, the fowler pegs down rows of nooses. Then, taking a 

 wider circuit, he begins to approach the flock from the opposite 

 side, not walking at them, but sideways, at right angles to the 

 line he wishes them to take, passing nearer and nearer at each 

 lap, never in the least alarming them, but quietly edging and 

 pressing them towards the nooses. Sometimes he lets them 

 walk right on to the nooses ; generally, when close to them, he 

 drops his blanket, throws up his arms, and rushes at them. They 

 always in these cases run a few paces before they rise, and 

 though occasionally all escape, generally one, often two, and 

 sometimes three or four, are caught by one or other leg. The 

 chief skill consists in walking them exactly across the lines of 

 nooses, which are never, according to my experience, more than 

 fifty yards long, and usually much less. 



If they are feeding anywhere near a small patch of cover, 

 into which you can make your way without their seeing or 



