~Fauna.~--With the spread of cultivation and drainage the Panjab plains have ceased to be to anything like the old extent the haunt of wild beasts and wild fowl. The lion has long been extinct and the tiger has practically disappeared. Leopards are to be found in low hills, and sometimes stray into the plains. Wolves are seen occasionally, and jackals are very common. The black buck (Antilope cerricapra) can still be shot in many places. The graceful little _chinkara_ or ravine deer (Gazella Bennetti) is found in sandy tracts, and the hogdeer or _parha_ (Cervus porcinus) near rivers. The _nilgai_ (Boselaphus tragocamelus) is less common. Monkeys abound in the hills and in canal-irrigated tracts in the Eastern districts, where their sacred character protects them from destruction, though they do much damage to crops. Peafowl are to be seen in certain tracts, especially in the eastern Panjab. They should not be shot where the people are Hindus or anywhere near a Hindu shrine. The great and lesser bustards and several kinds of sand grouse are to be found in sandy districts. The grey partridge is everywhere, and the black can be got near the rivers. The _sisi_ and the _chikor_ are the partridges of the hills, which are also the home of fine varieties of pheasants including the _monal_. Quail frequent the ripening fields in April and late in September. Duck of various kinds abound where there are _jhils_, and snipe are to be got in marshy ground. The green parrots, crows, and vultures are familiar sights. Both the sharp-nosed (Garialis Gangetica, vern. _gharial_) and the blunt-nosed (Crocodilus palustris, vern. magar) crocodiles haunt the rivers. The fish are tasteless; the _rohu_ and _mahseer_ are the best. Poisonous snakes are the _karait_, the _cobra_, and Russell's viper. The first is sometimes an intruder into houses. Lizards and mongooses are less unwelcome visitors. White ants attack timber and ruin books, and mosquitoes and sandflies add to the unpleasant features of the hot weather. The best known insect pest is the locust, but visitations on a large scale are rare. Of late years much more damage has been done by an insect which harbours in the cotton bolls. [Illustration: Fig. 24. Big game in Ladakh. KEY: 1, 3, 7, 9, Chiru or Tibetan Antelope. 2, Argali or Ovis Ammon. 4, 6, 8, Bharal or Ovis nahura. 5, Yak or Bos grunniens. 10, 11, 12, Urial or Ovis Vignei. 13, Bear skin.] ~Game of the Mountains.~--If sport in the plains has ceased to be first rate, it is otherwise in the hills. Some areas and the heights at which the game is to be found are noted below: (_a_) Goats and goat-antelopes: 1. Ibex (Capra Sibirica) 10,000-14,000 ft. Kashmir, Lahul, Bashahr. 2. Markhor (Capra Falconeri). Kashmir, Astor, Gilgit, Suliman hills. 3. Thar (Hemitragus jemlaicus), 9000-14,000 ft. Kashmir, Chamba. 4. Gural (Cemas goral), 3000-8000 ft. Kashmir, Chamba, Simla hills, Bashahr.