The Birds of hidia. 
225 
regards count iiuial)er one, thanks to the action of the Government, no 
Indian species, except possibly the Monal Pheasant {Lophophoi us refnlgem) 
seems in danger of early extinction. As to connt number two. notwith- 
standing this legislation, the plume-hnnter continues to destroy birds useful 
to the cultivator. There remains the third count of the charge, that of 
cruelty. Upon this I would lay especial stress, for I am convinced that if 
ladies had even a faint idea of the cruelty which plume-hunting involves, 
they would, with one accord, abstain from wearing any feathers, save those 
of the Ostrich and various game birds. 
CKUKi/rv TO Animals. 
The low-caste inhabitants of Iiulia are, I regret to say, not, as a rule, 
characterised by kindness to animals. These seem quite unable to appre- 
ciate the fact that animals can feel. I have often observed donkeys stagger- 
ing along so overloaded that at each step their hind legs " brushed," and 
blood issued from the places where the friction was greatest. I have seen, 
harne-ssed to a tonga, horses so exhausted that they could scarcely stand. 
On one occasion a friend and I walked a considerable portion of the journey 
from Rawalpindi to Murree in July because some of the tonga horses pro- 
vided for us had not sufficient strength to pull the vehicle at more than a 
walking pace. On our way up we actually came upon the body of a horse 
that had dropped down and died from sheer exhaustion. We reported the 
matter to the Local Government, and suitable action was taken. 
Some Indians use what are known as ''thorn bits," that is to say, 
bits provided with sharp spikes, so that when the reins are jerked these 
penetrate the flesh of the mouth of the unfortunate steed. 
In India fowls are always sold alive at market. Tlie cook, when he 
purchases a number of them, ties the legs of all tightly together, and hold- 
ing the tied-up bundle of legs, he carries the poor creatures home head 
downwards. 
When out shooting I find it necessary to examine every bird picked 
up to make sure that life is extinct, as otherwise the coolie that carries the 
•" bag " will put living birds on to the game stick, and there they will hang 
suspended by the neck until they die. Since animals are treated thus in 
everyday life, it is not pleasant to contemplate the kind of treatment meted 
out to his victims by the professional bird-catcher — a low caste man, 
brutalised by the constant butchery he perpetrates. He brings liown his 
victim by means of a pellet of dried mud slung from a catapult, and 
wrapping the poor creature up in his loin-cloth, leaves it to die a lingering 
death. As likely as not, the bird in question has a nest full of young ones. 
The.se starve to death. Even white men are guilty of similar cruelty. 
(Colonel Ryan, in the evidence which he gave, in June, before the Select 
Committee of the House of Lords on the Importation of Plumage Prohibi- 
tion Bill, said: — "Last year I knew of another rookery (of Egrets) in New 
South Wales where some brigands went down and destroyed, I think, about 
