THE (lAME lURDS (tF INDIA. \m 



the early sixties, ami was a spoitsinan ami obsji'ver of wide ex- 

 perience and considerable ability, recorded : 



" The KuUij is polygamous (as indeed all Gallinaceous birds 

 " are), and its habits ^\•ith respect to breeding are exactly the 

 "same as those of the Jungle-Fowl. The cock bird pays 

 '•tolerably impartial attention to his seraglio of 3 to 5 hens, 

 •• and the, latter, when so disposed, retire from time to time to 

 •• some secluded, sheltered spot to lay, returning to their party 

 " when this little duty has been performed. When 6, 8 or 10 

 '• eggs have been laid in one spot, the heri yields to the impulse 

 •• of incubation, and withdraws from Societ}'- to hatch her 

 " brood." 

 It mast be remembered that in '• Onithognomen's" day it was an 

 accepted idea that all game birds were polygamous, and the barn- 

 door fowl was cited as the pattern followed by the rest in their 

 domestic habits. Of recent years, however, it has been satisfactorily 

 proved that in many instances the cock birds of many species 

 prove faithful husbands and good parents, and it is not safe to 

 generalise. The credit for polygamj^ has doubtless arisen from the 

 fact that the cock bird is so often seen with a number of birds in 

 hens' plumage, though this may be due merely to the young cocks 

 not having yet acqiiired their male feathers and coloui'S. 



The young grow their wing qiiills with extraordinary quickness, 

 and within a few days are able to fly as well trnd as fast as the 

 adult bird. 



The hen bird is a xevj close sitter, and according to Hume, 

 may often be captured by hand or seized by a dog before she will 

 leave her nest. 



General Habits. — The AVhite-Crested Kalij is resident wherever 

 found, though it may move locally higher up the hills in summer 

 and lower down in winter. Even this movement must, however, 

 be but very slight, as it has been found breeding at practically 

 every height at which it has been seen. Typically it is, like the 

 rest of the genus, a bird of heavj' forests and thick growths rather 

 than the deciduous forest and more open country of the higher 

 hills. -At the same time it is less exclusively found in dense 

 evergreens than are its nearest relations, and sometimes at least 

 it wanders on to hill sides covered with but broken patches of 

 tree and bush scrub, especially if the intervening portions are well 

 furnished with bracken. Of course this does not mean to infer 

 they do not feed regularly, morning and evening, in the open, and 

 indeed when the weather is cool and showery especially at the 

 higher elevations, it may be found in open places throughout the 

 day. 



It is not nearly so socially inclined a bird as the Jungle-Fowl, 

 and is seldom met w^ith except in pairs or small family flocks of 

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