4 JOUHNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXJ'l. 



creamy-buff; flanks anteriorly like the breast, gradually changing 

 posteriorly until they are almost the same as the belly ; centre of 

 abdomen buff; under tail-coverts pale rufous, mottled slightly 

 with brown. 



Colours of Soft Parts. — Similar to the same parts in the male, 

 but the facial skin is a duller, dingier crimson, more a brick-red. 



Measurements.— ^ing, 8-6" (223-4 mm.) to 9-7" (245-6 mm.), 

 average (28 birds) 9-15" (231-6 mm.); tail, 12-5" (317-5 mm.) 

 to 18-6" (467-4 mm.), with an average of 15-0" (381-0 mm.) ; 

 tarsus, 2-8" (71-6 mm.) to 3-1" (78-7 mm.), generally a little 

 under 3" (about 75 mm.) ; bill at front about 1" (25*4 mm.) and 

 from gape 1-2" (30-4 mm.). The spur is only a mere knot 

 when present, as a rule there is none. The crest runs up to 2*7" 

 (68-5 mm.), but is more often about 2" (50-8 mm.) 



" Weight, 2 lbs. to 2 lbs. 12 ozs.*' (Hume.) 



Distribution. — The West of Nepal, Kumaon, Garhwal, Tehri 

 Garhwal, Simla States, Bussahir, Chamba and at least as far West 

 as Dunga Galli in the Hazara District of the N.-W. Frontier 

 Province. 



Ward says that it is not found in Kashmir proper, though it is 

 found in Kishtwar and the Jhelum Valley. Major H. L. Haugh- 

 ton, then of the 36th Sikhs, obtained specimens at Bvarnar and 

 Drawa (Kashmir), and also at Pir Panjal and Kaji Nag. Nor can 

 they be very rare there, for on one day he informs me he managed 

 to shoot eight birds. 



It is possible that these pheasants inhabit Nepal a good deal 

 further to the East than Hume thought to be the case. Before 

 the traffic in bird skins was j)ractically stopped in Darjiling 

 the Nepalese occasionally brought these skins into Darjiling for 

 sale and less often birds alive, which they said had been trapped 

 in the Valley of Nepal on the higher hills to the North. 1 have 

 myself seen such skins, and one of my eggs was obtained with the 

 skins of the parent bird from Nepalese in Darjiling. 



Scully, it must be remembered, found these birds very common 

 in captivity in Khatmandu, and believed that the bird was by no 

 means uncommon to the North of the Valley. No one yet has 

 collected in Nepal off the beaten tracks, and even Hodgson was 

 never, evidently, in a position to collect in the real interior of the 

 country, whilst Residents since his time appear to have made no 

 attempt to do so. 



Nidification. — This beautiful Pheasant breeds throughout the 

 above area at elevations between 5,000 and 9.000 feet, occasionally 

 lower than the former, and, equally occasionally, above the latter. 

 The breeding season commences early in April and lasts through- 

 out May and June. In the lower ranges most eggs will be taken 

 in the end of April and early May, whilst in the higher altitudes 



