THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 7 



together, but scatter over a considerable area, a habit of consider- 

 able importance to the sportsman in pnrsnit of them, as he can 

 pick them up one or two at a time instead of flushing the whole 

 covey together. 



No account of this Pheasant can be considered complete with- 

 out " Mountaineer's " most interesting notes, for no one since has 

 written any account to compare with his. I therefore make no 

 apology for quoting them in full, although so many have used them 

 before me. 



" 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 indiscrimiua- 

 •'tely over almost every part of the regions thej'- 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 jungles, or in the opposite extreme of deep shady forest ; 

 ■' in the lower ranges they keep near the top 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 seeks a spot to per- 

 •' form 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 a good deal about the particular hill they are 

 " located on, but not beyond certain boundaries, remaining 

 '• about one spot for several days or w-eeks, and then shifting 

 " to another, but never entirely abandoning the place, and 

 " year after year they may, to a certainty, be found in some 

 " quarter of it. 



" During the day, unless dark and cloudy, they keep con- 

 " cealed 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 them- 

 " selves 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 prefei-ence to getting up. 



