THE (iAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 335 



and the tew etjfgt* in my collection have been taken in these months 

 between tlie 20th ]\Iaroh and the 1 0th May. The nests, as far as 

 one knows at present, are always placed in bamboo forest or in the 

 thick secondary g-rowth wliich so qnickly covers deserted cultivation 

 patches in the same forest. Jt is cpiite possible that they have two 

 broods in the year, though 1 do not think this is usual with birds of 

 this genus. 



Probably a full clutch of eggs is nominally 7 or 8 as in the other 

 pheasants, but I have so far only records of o to o eggs, undoubted- 

 ly, with one exception, incomplete clutches. 



They are exactly the same in every respect as the eggs of lineatus 

 lineatus, and the average in size of 10 eggs 47'0 x 37'] mm. 



General Jlohits. — Capt. Fielden ^\■rites regarding Oates' Silver 

 Pheasant, though he did not differentiate between the various forms 

 of lineatus : — 



•' This bird is tolerably conniion in the hills West of Thayet- 

 " myo, liut appears to be unknown to any but Burmese. It 

 '• seems to require rock and very steep hillsides, covered by long 

 ■■ grass for shelter, and flat alluvial soil, bare of grass and cover- 

 •• ed with brushwood and young trees, for feeding ground; in 

 •• fact, its feeding ground is exactly the. same as that of the Black 

 •• Woodpecker, and I have several times lost a bird of each 

 •■ species by being undecided which to fire at. 



'■ An old male is a most extraordinary looking bird. The 

 "tail only is seen moving through the long grass, and I in- 

 '• variably thought at first that it was some new porcupine or 

 •■badger, or some animal. The note, too, adds to the deception. 

 •• It reminded me a little of the cries of young ferrets. 



•' The}' run with great rapiditj^ but rise readily before a dog, 

 " and would not be difficult shooting, but for the steepness of 

 "the hillsides upon which they are found, and the nature of the 

 '• soil, — gravel just stuck together with the material that forms 

 '• the petrified M-ood so common there. This covered by gra^s 

 " or dried bamboo leaves makes the footing so slippery that any 

 •• attempt to raise my gun hurriedly generally brought me to 

 " ray knees. 



•' These birds feed a great deal on tlie young shoot of a kind 



■ of Orchis, which rather resembles a large Roselle flower, and 



•' its juicy leaves enable these pheasants to live for some time 



'•faraw^ay from water; but in the middle of the hot weather 



"thej'^are forced to retire from the Thayetmyo Hills by the 



" long grass being burnt. They return at the beginning of the 



" rains. They hatch in August." 



To the above I can add but little, but most of my correspondents. 



who know these birds and their haunts, seem to consider them birds 



which fJ^i require to have water within reasonable reach for their 



