THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 357 



Adult Female. — Similar to that of humiie. 



Measurenmits.— Wing from 7-7" (195-8 mm.) to 8-3" (210-8 

 mm.) ; tail 7-7" (195-8 mm.) to 8-G" (218-4 mm.); tarsus about 

 2-1." (Gl-0 mm. ) , bill at front about 1" (25-4 mm.) and gape 1-2" 

 (30-5 mm.). 



Distribution. — Yunnan, Northern Shan States, and the greater 

 part of the Southern Shan States. To the West it appears 

 nowhere to cross the Irrawaddy, which River probably forms 

 the dividing barrier between this and Mrs. Hume's Pheasant. 

 To the East we do not yet know for certain how far it extends, but 

 up to now there is no record of its having been seen or obtained 

 East of the Sahvin River. I have records of its having been 

 obtained at Myitkjma, Sadon, N. E. of Nilamka, Mogok, Maymyo, 

 Kalaw, Taungyi, Fort Stedman, and Loimai. South of this again, 

 North of the Bree country, a Pheasant has been seen which will 

 assuredly prove to be of this species, and almost equally certainly 

 of the present subspecies, but no specimen has been actually 

 secured. 



Nidification. — There is at present absolutely nothing on record 

 about the breeding of this beautiful Pheasant, but, with the care 

 and industry with which our field-ornithologists are now working 

 Burmah, the finding of the nests and eggs cannot be long delayed. 

 General Habits. — Like its cousin, Mrs. Hume's Pheasant, the 

 Burmese Barred-Back Pheasant frequents the mountninous regions 

 of Eastern Burmah between 4,000 and 9,000 feet, keeping more 

 to the open than to the very heavy forests, though even in the 

 former there are always pockets and ravines which liave the trees 

 and undergrowth very dense and tangled. It is also found on 

 gi'ass-covered hill-sides, well away from any large tree forest, and 

 seems to keep together in small flocks, probably composed of the 

 cock and hen and the last hatched brood. 



Mr. J. P. Cook writes in the Bombay Journal of this Pheasant : 

 " I saw this beautiful bird, or it maj^ have been P. bitrmannicus 

 •' 1331a" (this it proved to be) " several times, and generally 

 " in the open jungle on rocky grass-hills. On one occasion I 

 ■' put up five birds singly at intervals of aboiit a minute or 

 "two. At one time I thought I had found a nest, as a hen 

 • ' bird rose at my feet, but I hunted everywhere without suc- 

 " cess. These Pheasants do not seem to be quite so gi-egarious 

 -'as 6r. lineatus, nor so partial to the proximity of water. I 

 "should like to have shot one or two, but when I saw them I 

 "always had my little -410 with me only, which would not have 

 •' been sufticient to have bi'ought them down. On one occasion 

 "I put up a Pheasant out of so)De wild raspberry bushes 

 " amongst long grass, the fruit of which it was perhaps 

 " feeding on." 



