796 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIX. 



and koklass, the " moonal" being too well known, as it is not infre- 

 quently seen adorning ladies' headgear or made into screens, etc. 



The kalij {Gennoniis alhicristatus) known to the natives as the 

 " Gooqner " is a very handsome hird, the two sexes being quite distinct 

 as to colouring. The male (as I have a fully grown young one before 

 me, I will describe him), weight 2 lbs., back green, forehead black, 

 feathers tipped with brown merging into a dull brown crest, the 

 largest feather of which is If in. long : the head and upper part of 

 neck have not yet moulted, a red arc round the eye dotted over with 

 tiny black feathers, the arc reaches from the ear to nostril ; ear 

 coverts black, lower part of neck wing coverts and over upper 

 part of thorax metallic green, merging into feathers in which the 

 metallic lustre is intensified and each feather having a white border 

 about I of an inch broad ; this continues to the tail which is triangular 

 in shape while the bird is at rest, the centre feathers tapering to a 

 fine point and overlying the outer feathers ; lower part of neck and 

 chest ashy grey merging into feathers of a darker hue which cover the 

 abdomen. The female has a general olive brown colouring and is 

 also crested. These birds subsist chiefly on the seeds of various wild 

 plants and shrubs, being very partial to the seeds of the wild dog- 

 rose ; they also devour grubs, caterpillars and the like. 



The kalij, as a rule, lives lower down than the koklass and is a 

 lover of dense cover, and is seldom found far from it, so that when 

 alarmed he may plunge into it, and if [»ursued scuttles about like a 

 hare turning and twisting and only taking to wing as a very last 

 resort ; the young birds of the year rise far more readily, and if they 

 have previoubly not been molested by man usually perch in a tree 

 emitting a whirring, scolding chuckle as they rise, and generally con- 

 tinuing it for a lew moments after alighting. When once in a tree 

 (they usually select the one with densest foliage near at hand) 

 they remain immoveable until either dislodged by a stone, or the 

 sportsman's or one of his assistant's eyes fall on him, and then know- 

 ing as if by magic that he is seen, he splutters out of the tree and 

 dashes downwards, almost invariably alighting on the ground. When 

 roused a second time even the young one^- usually do not pitch in 

 trees, but make off down the khud. 



The old birds are wonderfully cunning in districts where they are 

 ut: all shot at, instead of perching in a tree they often make off.- 



