it 



TEH GAME BIRDS OF IlSDIA. 351 



" morsel. One or two birds spent mucli of the time walking 

 "slowly about on the outskirts of the glade, but there was no 

 " systematic watch or sentinal duty, such as is well-kno^\ii 

 " among some species of birds. They were remarkably silent, 

 " only now and then a subdued gutteral chuckle or a protesting 

 "whistle as one was crowded. Instead of scattering promis- 

 " cuously over the whole of the glade, they were concentrated 

 " along the edges of the dug-over area, this bemg due probably 

 'to a zone of more abundant food. WTien a large tuft of 

 grass or bamboo was encountered the birds dug around it 

 " and under it until it was left supported by its bare roots, 

 " or in one case until it actually toppled over. The sight of 

 "more than a dozen Impeyans thus engaged was most 

 " remarkable, and when the sun rose upon them the colour effect 

 " was indescribable, fourteen heaving masses of blue, green, 

 " violet and purple, and now and then a flash of white, set among 

 "the green of the turf and the black of the newly disturbed loan. 

 " It was surprising how seldom one caught a glimpse of the white 

 "lower back. Only when some unusually violent effort made 

 "the bird extend a wing to keep its balance, did the white gleam 

 "forth." 

 The flesh of the Impeyan is fairly good eating though, naturally, 

 old birds are tough and stringy and if one is forced to turn so grand 

 a bird into a meal he should select a young one for the purpose. 



LOPHOPHOEUS SCLATERI. 



Sdater's Mooned. 



Lophopliorus sdaleri, Jerdon, Ibis, (1870), p. 147 (Mishmi Hills) ; Sclater, P. Z. 

 S. (1870), p. 162, pi. xiv. ; Elliot, Mong. Phas. i., pi. 20 (1872) ; Hume, Str. Feath. 

 ii., p. 488 (1874) (E. Assam) ; Hume and Marshall, Game B. Ind. i., p. 13, pi. 

 (1878) (Sadyia) ; Godw. , Aust. P. Z. S. (1879), p. 681, pi. i. (Sadyia) ; Hume, Str. 

 Feath. ix., pp. 198, 203 (1880) (Mishmi); id. xi., p. 301 (1888) (Mishmi); 

 Ogilvie-Grant, Cat Birds B. M.xxii., p. 282 (1893) ; Hartert, Bull. B. O. C. iii., 

 p. 12 (1893) (Mishmi); Ogilvie-Grant, Handb. Game B. i., p. 240(1895) ; Gates, 

 Man. Game Birds Lad. i, p. 269 (1898) ; F. M. Bailey, Jour. B. N. H. S. xxiv, 

 p. 76 (1915) ; Rothschild, Bull. B. 0. C. xxxvii, p. 50 (1917); Beebe, Pheas- 

 ants, vol. i, p. 153(1819). 



Vernacular Names. — Dong [Tibetan, Po Ba dialect) Pui-di. {Bhute 

 tratta, mislmii). 



Description — Adult Male. — ^Atuft of feathers below the nostril and 

 narrow lines of feathers from the upper corner to the cro^^^^ black ; 

 crest of short, curly feathers metallic blue-green ; ear coverts and 

 narrow line behind the crest black with blue-green reflections ; sides 

 and back of neck copper with bronze-green reflections ; whole 

 mantle and upper back deep purple blue-green, mostly purple on 

 the shoulders and blue-green elsewhere ; lower back, rumi) and 

 upper tail coverts white with a few black shaft stripes and, in one 



