THE GAME BIltDS OF INDIA. 713 



slightest sign of clanger scuttle back to it. Beebe says that in 

 addition to cover, these birds al\va3's seem to require a good water 

 supply. This is probablj" correct in regard to all the Tragopans, 

 but, on the other hand, practically all over the area inhabited by 

 these birds the forests are very humid, and almost every ravine or 

 hollow has more or Jess water trickling through it even during the 

 driest months. 



They wander about either singly or in pairs during the cold 

 weather, but after the chicks are hatched they remain in familj^ 

 parties until October or November, when they sometimes split up 

 again. About this time the birds wander down a good deal lower 

 than their breeding haunts, and keep well below the snow-line, but 

 even when thus driven down by the cold, the members of each 

 family will sometimes keep together throughout the winter until, 

 in March or early April, they once more wend their way to their 

 summer hau.nts. 



Beebe well describes the varioTis calls of the Tragopan. 

 Writing of late spring, he says : 



" At this season the birds are silent, unless the hen still 

 communicates with her nearly grown young by means of the 

 same low, clucking call which is used when they are chicks. 

 Only when in dire fright or distress, as when suddenly flushed 

 by a dog, do the birds — both cocks and hens — give utterance to 

 a series of loud, raucous notes : r/uaZ" .' ciuali ! 'luaJc ! qiio.h ! The 

 call note of the Satyra Tragopan is very distinct from its note 

 of alarm. I have heard it given a number of times by wild 

 birds, and in captivity it is a very characteristic utterance. 

 The male utters it as a herald of his nuptial display — a high, 

 rather quavering baa ! baa ! baa ! baa ! When this is heard, 

 the hen is usually near by, and unless something occurs to 

 alarm the birds, a display is almost sure to follow. The hen 

 utters a call comparable to this when separated from her 

 nearly grown young, the call in this instance being given 

 singly, and in a slightly higher, shriller tone." 

 The defiant challenge trumpet of the Tragopan is a very fine, 

 wild sound. It commences with a short trumpet-like " Wah," 

 followed by three or four more similar calls, each more prolonged 

 than the last, and ending with a long-drav?n " wa-a-a-a," too wild 

 and ringing, however, to deserve being called a wail. This call can 

 be heard for an immense distance, especially when uttered in the 

 early dawn of a peaceful Himalayan morning, when it rings across 

 the mist-soaked valleys from one hilltop to another, to be taken up 

 and replied to by other birds in their turn. During the daj*, 

 except in the height of the breeding season, it is but seldom heard, 

 but as the cool of the evening draws on, it may again be heard 

 uttered at intervals as the birds settle down for the night. 

 2 



