THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 171 



expended liet'oiv he can be brought to bag, esperially without good 

 dogs. Wandering along roads and forest paths in the early morn- 

 ing or late afternoon, one ma}' sometimes obtain (juite a decent bag 

 of these birds, for wherever the road passes through forest, Kalij 

 Pheasants are quite sure to frequent it daih\ If the road is wide 

 and runs straight ibr considerable distances, it is not much Tised at- 

 tempting to shoot along it, and the only chance is to creep along 

 as quietly as possible just inside the edge of the forest and hope to 

 spot your game before he sees or hears j'ou. On the other hand if 

 the road twists and turns so as to enable you to get fairly clear to 

 any bird hunting for grain in the droppings, &c.,on it, one can get 

 quite a number of shots in a couple of hours" stroll. This is not 

 however a very satisfactory way of shooting, for if you want j^our 

 bii'd, it is almost imperative to shoot him as he runs into safety, 

 and not one bird in five will give a decent shot on the wing unless 

 he is startled into unwilling flight by j^our almost treading on him. 



If, however, you know his haunts and have good dogs to work 

 them with, it is possible to have a much more sporting da3"'s shoot, 

 but it must be remembered that Indian forests are not like English 

 ones, there are no nicely cut drives or open spaces, and ten to one 

 when the bird is put up by your dogs he gets up and keeps up 

 right out of sight. A more or less open ravine may sometimes 

 furnish a vantage ground for the sportsman, giving him room to 

 work uphill and see more or less wdiat is going on above him on 

 either side. It is best always to v.-ork uphill, as all Kalij Pheas- 

 ants, like Jungle-Fowl, always run away uphill, but once they are 

 flushed turn and fly downhill. Once on the wing and fairly start- 

 ed, they fly at a great pace, and it is no easy matter to get 3-our 

 first bird as they come towards you and then swing round and bowl 

 over Yowv second before he passes out of shot. 



When shooting with dogs, pheasants often fly into trees and perch, 

 and once seated in what they consider safety, it is generally possi- 

 ble to creep up and get a fair shot as they leave their perch. 



The White-crested Kalij feed greedily on all kinds of grain and 

 seed, and also on the tender young shoots of many green crops. 

 Cultivation of almost any sort, therefore, forms a great attraction to 

 them, and this is probabl}^ why they are more numerous round and 

 about villages than in more remote forests. At the same time even 

 the crops of villages will not tempt them unless there is plenty of 

 heav}^ forest wdthin the immediate vicinity into which they can 

 scuttle for refuge. In addition to vegetable food they will eat 

 almost any kind of insect, worms, larvas and even small reptiles. 



The cocks have a rather loud croAv or call, described by Wilson 

 as " a loud whistling chuckle or chirrup," and both sexes chuckle 

 and cluck in a soft undertone as \\\QY wander about in the under- 

 growth scratching for food. 



