ABSTRACT
AFALCON suddenly left his riding-perch amidst the advancing hunt and flew back. The huntsmen called to him threateningly, but in vain. Like an arrow he darted so close past the neck of my horse that automatically I leaned out of the saddle to avoid being struck. He turned in a flash and landed not far from me. I reined in and watched. With his out-spread tail propped on the ground the falcon was grappling a snake in his talons, and with his beak striking at its elusive head. The snake writhed and coiled round the bird spasmodically, but could get no purchase on the plumage. At last, the falcon seized the viper’s head and with a few circular movements twisted it off. A number of other huntsmen had stopped to watch the snake-killer at work, but when the struggle was over, and the bird started to eat its kill, one of them cried commandingly:
