view, of scouring the above grounds throughout his destructive prowess, for there are in many instances no cover in which the young flights can take shelter, when they are repeatedly throughout the day driven from and shot at amid the stubbles.

There are some disciples of the young school of sportsmen, who

"Run amuck and tilt at all they meet,"

but this is a principle (if it can be called one) by no means commendable. It frequently happens that if a pair or brace of these birds lose their nest, they will reconstruct another at a later period of the hatching season, and prove more fortunate in the second than they did in the first instance. In such a case, the fledglings will not keep pace in their feathers with those "nides" that have been hatched at a previous period. This fact has more than once occurred to the notice of the writer. A fair-going sportsman will never think of taking an advantage of these untimely objects. The same may help to fill his "bag," but not his "belly." Let him afford them time to arrive at maturity, which will be doing a justice to the tender helpless poults as well as to himself,

And here, by the way, I may perhaps be allowed to name that unless the gunner has been experienced to the character of quail, he may, whilst leaning on the side of mercy for once, on behalf of unfledged partridge, miss a chance, which ought not to be exactly thrown away. It often happens, on heaths and moors, the dogs make a steady stand in the course of questing partridges; the gunner on advancing, and treading up the cause of the scent, from the character of its presence, fully believes the same to be a diminutive partridge chick, and drops his gun in a somewhat degree of disappointment. Let him shoot the first bird, the bird that offers itself to his notice; if it should prove a partridge chick, he can desist from proceeding further in his murderous career; but should it turn out otherwise, and be a quail, let him follow up his game with redoubled vigilance and satisfaction. Moreover, it may be observed, for his instruction if unacquainted with the latter bird, quail rise separately, one by one, as they are trodden up; whereas partridge chicks take wing simultaneously, should the parent birds be with them at the time. The writer once stumbled upon a bevy of quail on a wild heath-clad moor, which, when they first rose before him, he mistook for young partridges; but from a motive of curiosity in the matter, he walked up to, and succeeded in bringing down one of them, and, to his astonishment, discovered that the birds were quails. He ultimately managed to bag eleven out of twelve of these dainty morsels.

It often occurs that dogs will be dodged about from one end of a field to the other, even the most steady animals of the kind, without eliciting to the sportsman any view of the game he has been drawing upon. This is too often the case at the commencement of the season, particularly in clover fields and amid patches of whin and dwarf furze. In such instances, it may be assumed for an indisputable fact that the kennel are "railspelled," that is, that the dogs are following up the scent of a cornerake or land-rail, which will in particular instances not take wing, however closely pressed by its pursuers. In such instances it is advisable to call the dogs off and try fresh ground.

And in this place I must not omit to name, that in those districts where no water is procurable from casual resources, it is highly necessary for

the shooter to make his way, whilst he is pursuing his sport, in occasional instances, to the nearest farm-house or cottage he can meet with, and solicit a bucket of water for the use of his canine servants. These hard-worked creatures become, during their fatiguing trials, greatly exhausted in dry sultry weather, and require the aid of proper attention in this particular. It were far better and more to the advantage of both the dog and his master, in pursuing his hunting qualities throughout the day, to undergo a course of refreshment, than to persevere under every disadvantage, in carrying on an uninterrupted toilsome career, which would be attended with little or no beneficial results.

In hare shooting, it is not unlikely that young dogs will follow on the track of that animal, when moved, for some distance. In such cases, let the truant be confined to the kennel at home for the first few weeks of the partridge season, or he will spoil a good day's sport, let him prove ever so staunch at other game.

On Wednesday, the 31st of August, many sportsmen now in Town, who are disposed to forego the expense and inconvenience of effecting a journey to the Scottish moors, will find their way into the different counties of England and Wales with the intent of partridge shooting, and by the time the Sporting Magazine of the present month is perused, some hecatombs of these choice birds will have been sacrificed to the demands of the trigger. But there are various parts of England as well as Wales, which are furnished with black game and the red grouse, so that between the distinct varieties of fur and feather, the eager sportsman may look forward to his gunning practices on the present occasion, with a high source of satisfaction and delight.

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE HIMALAYAS.

BY MOUNTAINEER.

THE COCKLASS.

Local-COCKLASS, POCRASS, COCKLA.

This is another forest pheasant, common to the whole of the wooded regions, from an elevation of about 4000 feet to nearly the extreme limits of forest, but is most abundant in the lower and intermediate ranges. In the lower regions its favourite haunts are in wooded ravines; but it is found on nearly all hill-sides which are covered with trees or bushes, from the summit of the ridges to about half-way down. Further in the interior it is found scattered in all parts, from near the foot of the hill to the top, or as far as the forest reaches, seeming most partial to the deep sloping forests composed of oak, chesnut, and movenda pine, with box, yew, and other trees intermingled, and a thick underwood of ringall.

The cocklass is of a rather retired and solitary disposition: it is generally found singly or in pairs, and, except the brood of young birds, which keep pretty well collected till near the end of winter, they seldom congregate much together. Where numerous, several are often put up at no great distance from each other, as if they were members of one lot; but when more thinly scattered it is seldom more than two old birds are found together; and at whatever season, when one is found its mate may almost to a certainty be found somewhere near. This would lead one to imagine that many pairs do not separate after the business of incubation is over, but keep paired for several successive years. In forests where there is little grass or underwood they get up as soon as aware of the approach of any one near, or run quickly along the ground to some distance; but where there is much cover they lie very close, and will not get up till forced by dogs or beaters. When put up by dogs they often fly up into a tree close by, which they rarely do when flushed by beaters or the sportsman himself, then flying a long way, and generally alighting on the ground. Their flight is rapid in the extreme, and after a few whirrs, they sometimes shoot down like lightning. They sometimes utter a few low chuckles before getting up and rise, sometimes with a low screeching chatter, and sometimes silently. The males often crow at daybreak, and occasionally at all hours, and in the remote forests of the interior, on the report of a gun, all which are within half a mile or so will often crow after each report. They also often crow after a clap of thunder or any loud and sudden noise: this peculiarity seems to be confined to those in dark shady woods in the interior, as I never noticed it on the lower hills.

The cocklass feeds principally on leaves and buds; it also eats roots, grubs, acorns, seeds, and berries, and moss and flowers. It will not readily eat grain, and is more difficult to rear in confinement than the jewar or moonall. It roosts in trees generally, but at times on low bushes or on the ground. The female lays seven eggs, nearly resembling those of the moonall in colour; they are hatched about the middle or end of May. She makes her nest under the shelter of an overhanging tuft of grass, or in a corner at the foot of a tree, and sometimes in the hollow of a decayed trunk.

The male of this species is about 24 inches in length and 30 in breadth; bill black; iris of the eye dark brown; head glossy dark green, except the crown, which is ashy brown; it is crested with long tapering feathers, the upper ones, or rather the feathers on the crown, lengthening to about 2 inches, ashy brown; the rest are dark green, and nearly 4 inches long: when it erects the crest, the green feathers only are erected on each side of the brown ones, which keep their horizontal position, giving it the appearance of being horned. On each side of the neck is a large white oblong spot; breast and middle of the belly dark chesnut; vent feathers the same, tipped with whitish; rest of the body light ash, with a long pointed streak of black down the middle of each feather; on the wing coverts a few blackish blotches; tail pointed, composed of 16 feathers of a brownish chesnut, deepening to nearly black towards the tips, which are slightly edged with dirty white; tail-coverts light ash, long, and nearly covering the tail feathers; legs and feet ash, it is very sharply spurred. The female is 20 inches long and 28 across. The whole upper parts are beautifully variegated with various shades of

dark and light brown, light chesnut and yellow, so blended together as perfectly to defy description; chin and a little of the throat yellowish white; lower parts pale yellowish chesnut, marked with dark brown, slightly in the middle and deeper at the sides. The whole plumage of both male and female, but particularly the male, is long and cock-like. The young males have the colours of the females at first, but change the first moulting: they may then be distinguished by the shorter spurs, and the chesnut on the breast being much lighter-coloured than in old birds.

In the lower regions this bird should be sought for from about the middle of the hill upwards; oak forests, where the ground is rocky and uneven, are the most likely places to find it. Dogs are requisite to ensure sport, and are much to be preferred to beaters, as birds, which if flushed by the latter would go far out of all reach, will often fly into the trees close above the dogs, and may be approached quite close, seeming to pay more attention to their movements than the presence of the sportsman. In the interior they will be found with the moonall in all forests, but always keep in the wood, and do not, like it, resort to the borders. They are worth shooting, if but for the table, as the flesh is perhaps the best of the hill pheasants.

THE CHEER.

Local-CHEER, BOOINCHIL, HERRIL.

This bird has much more of a pheasant appearance than the rest of our hill galline which bear the name. It is an inhabitant of the lower and intermediate ranges, seldom found at very high elevations, and never approaching the limits of forest. Though far from being rare, fewer perhaps are met with than of any other kind, unless it is particularly sought for; always excepting the jewar. The reason of this may be that the general character of the ground where they resort is not so inviting in appearance to the sportsman as other places; besides, they are everywhere confined to particular localities, and are not, like the rest, scattered indiscriminately over almost every part of the regions they inhabit. Their haunts are on grassy hills, with a scattered forest of oak and small patches of underwood; hills covered with the common pine; near the sites of deserted villages, old cow-sheds, and the long grass amongst precipices and broken ground. They are seldom found on hills entirely destitute of trees or jungle, or in the opposite extreme of deep shady forest. In the lower ranges they keep near the tops of the hills, or about the middle, and are seldom found in the valleys or deep ravines. Further in the interior they are generally low down, often in the immediate vicinity of the villages. Except in the breeding season, when each pair seek a spot to perform the business of incubation, they congregate in flocks of from 5 or 6 to 10 or 15, and seldom more than two or three lots inhabit the same hill.. They wander about a good deal on the particular hill they are located, but not beyond certain boundaries, remaining about one spot for several days or weeks, and then shifting to another, but never entirely abandon the place, and year after year may to a certainty be found in some quarter of it. During the day, unless dark and cloudy, they keep concealed in the

grass and bushes, coming out morning and evening to feed. When come upon suddenly while out, they run off quickly in different directions, and conceal themselves in the nearest cover, and seldom more than one or two get on the wing. They run very fast, and if the ground is open and no cover near, many will run two or three hundred yards in preference to getting up. After concealing themselves they lie very close, and are flushed within a few yards. There is perhaps no bird of its size which is so difficult to find, after the flock have been disturbed and they have concealed themselves. When the grass is very long, even if marked down, without a good dog it is often impossible, and with the assistance of the best dogs, not one-half will be found a second time. A person may walk within a yard of one, and it will not move. I have knocked them over with a stick and even taken them with the hand. In autumn the long rank grass, so prevalent about many of the places they resort, enables them to hide almost anywhere; but this is burnt by the villagers at the end of winter, and they then seek refuge in low jungle and brushwood, and, with a dog, are not so difficult to find.

Both males and females often crow at daybreak and dusk, and in cloudy weather sometimes during the day. The crow is loud and singular, and when there is nothing to interrupt the sound, may be heard for at least a mile. It is something like the words, chir-a-pir, chir-apir, chir chir chirwa, chir chirwa, but a good deal varied: it is often begun before complete daylight, and in spring, when the birds are numerous, it invariably ushers in the day. In this respect it may rival the domestic cock. When pairing and scattered about, the crow is often kept up for near half an hour, first from one quarter, then another, and now and then all seem to join in as a chorus. At other times it seldom lasts more than five or ten minutes.

The cheer pheasant feeds chiefly on roots, for which it digs holes in the ground; grubs, insects, seeds, and berries, and, if near cultivated fields, several kinds of grain form a portion: it does not eat grass or leaves like all the rest of our pheasants. It is easy to rear in confine, ment, and might without difficulty be naturalized in England, if it would stand the long frosts and snows of severe winters, which I imagine is rather doubtful. The female makes her nest in the grass or amongst low bushes, and lays from nine to fourteen eggs of a dull white, and rather small for so large a bird. They are hatched about the end of May or beginning of June. Both male and female keep with the young brood, and seem very solicitous for their safety.

This bird flies rather heavily and seldom very far. Like most others it generally utters a few loud screeches on getting up, and spreads out the beautifully barred feathers of its long tail both when flying and running. It does not perch much in trees, but will occasionally fly up into one close by, when put up by dogs. It roosts on the ground generally and when congregated together the whole flock huddle up in one spot They will, however, at times roost in trees or bushes.

The male cheer is 18 inches long exclusive of the tail, which varies in different birds from 18 to 28 inches; and 32 across the wings: bill pale horn colour; iris yellowish hazel; naked skin round the eye bright red; head dark ash, crested with a few long hair-like feathers; neck light ash, gradually becoming slightly barred with dusky black; shoul