chikor

Our bear-honk yesterday was only productive of annas to the beaters, but we picked up some chikor on the way home, and we have found mushrooms growing close to the hut, so that our lower natures are also satisfied.

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

Ram chikor, The great snow partridge (_Tetragallus Himalayensis_).

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

The Colonel turned up from the Malingam direction, and pitched his tent in the rest-house compound; and, as the afternoon grew cooler, he and I sallied forth to select a few chikor for the pot.

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

The chikor is extremely like the ordinary European redleg or Barbary partridge, not only in colouring, but in habit, loving the same dry, scrub-covered country, and preferring, like him, to run rather than fly when pursued.

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

As we walked down the steep path into the nullah a brace of red-legged partridges (chikor) rose in a great fuss, and sailed gaily across the river, whose roaring gained ominously in volume as we drew near.

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

Fortunately we had brought books with us, and we relieved the monotony by observing the habits of a pair of "kastooras," a hawk, and a brace of chikor at intervals, but it was truly a tedious chase.

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

Leaving Sogul, we skirted for some miles a bare ridge which rose on the right, and which looked an ideal ground for chikor, and then turned into a beautiful valley drained by the Pohru, now quite a small and insignificant stream.

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

The chikor, however, is certainly far superior in the capacity of what fowl fanciers call "a table bird," being, in fact, truly excellent eating.

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

A feeling of drowsiness steals over me; that succulent cold chikor, followed by a generous slice of cake upon which I so nobly lunched, clouds somewhat my active faculties, and the article -- "A Bear Battue in the

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne

"10 P.M. -- The body of the ram chikor has just been brought in.

A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil T. R. Swinburne