THE GAME JilliDiS OF INDIA. 351 



Latterly they have been repeatedly shot on the Chin Hills as fai- 

 South as Fahini and Fort White, whilst Venning reports them as 

 not uncommon still further South at llaka, where he saw Hocks ot 

 as many as ten birds together. Again East and North-East ol 

 Mauipur on the hills bordering the Chindwin and Oyu lUvers, it has 

 been seen and shot, and it certainly extends as i'ar North-East as the 

 Patkoi Hills, as 1 have seen its feathers on the baskets of the Nagas 

 trom this district. At present there is nothing to show what is the 

 boundary between htimitc and harmaynnicus, and this may prove to 

 be either the Chindwin or the Inawaddj^ as, so far, no birds of this 

 genus have been found in the inter-land of these two rivers. 

 Probably, however, consideiing the distribution of humia'. in tlie 

 N. E. >iaga and Patkoi Hills, the latter river will be found to be 

 the Western limits of P. h. bunnannicus. 



Nidifi cation. — As far as I know, the only collectors wdio have 

 hitherto succeeded iu finding the nest and eggs of this most 

 beautiful bird are Messrs. Wickham, Hopwood and Mackenzie, to 

 whom I am indebted for specimens of the eggs and many valuable 

 notes. 



The two latter gentlemen, when touring iu the North Chin 

 Hills, had a clutch of 8 eggs brought in to them in the end of 

 April 1914 by the Chins, said to be those of Mrs. Hume's Pheasant; 

 unfortunately they were on the verge of hatching, and it was only 

 possible to save 4 eggs out of the clutch. The eggs were, however, 

 not such as had been expected, so that it was with the greatest 

 delight the same two collectors had the good luck to themselves 

 to take a second nest and see the parent bird within a few dajs of 

 receiving the first. This nest, which was found on the 1st of May, 

 contained only 7 eggs. 



In the following year, near the same spot and on the same date, 

 Mr. Mackenzie obtained another nest with 10 eggs, whilst on the 

 20th April and the 1st May two other clutches were brought to him 

 by Chins, containing respectively 6 and 7 eggs. In neither oi' these 

 two instances were the parent birds trapped, though the Chins 

 produced some feathers to support their story ; the eggs are, how- 

 ever, exactly similar to those taken personally by Mr. Mackenzie, and 

 there does not seem to be any reason to doubt their authenticity. 



All these eggs were taken from a ridge above and to the West 

 of Haingyan, near Hankin, at au elevation of some 7,000 feet. 



Mr. Mackenzie {in he. cit.) gives a brief note on the breeding of 

 the Pheasant, but unfortunately tells us nothing about the nest or 

 where it is placed. He writes : 



" Eggs, with a bird skin. The eggs were of the ordinary 

 " Phasiavtis type : three clutches were obtained, all from about 

 " 6,500'. The bird seems to breed near the top of the main 

 ridge." 



