THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 529 



Hume believed that tlie Koklas pairs for life, and the observa- 

 tious of modern sportsmen to some extent confirm this. J have re- 

 peatedly been told that year after year, if not too much disturbed, 

 the same pair of Pheasants will haunt and breed in some particular 

 small patch of jungle in the same ravine. " Pine Martin " in a 

 very readable article on this bird and the Kalij l^heasant, which 

 appeared in the Bombay Nat. His. Journal, Vol. XIX., does not 

 agiee with this. He writes : — 



«' In the shooting- season the old cocks are almost always 



" found by themselves . . . In shooting, if your dog puts 



" up an old cock, do not trouble to look for any more birds 



" near him.'" 



Incubation takes 20 or 21 days, and the young are able to fly 



well within a very few days after they emerge from the shell. 



General Hahits. — The Koklas is normally a bird of high elevation, 

 being found up to 14,000 feet and being most common between 

 7,000 and 10,000 feet. Wilson says it is found down as low as 

 4,000 feet, and Hume records it as venturing even lower than this, 

 n'i?., to 3,000 feet, but to these low hills it only wanders in the cold 

 weather, and then but very rarely. To sportsmen who want to 

 make a bag, it would belittle use attempting anything under 5,000 

 feet and wiser to work at least 2,000 feet above this. 



This Pheasant appears to be especially partial to forests of Cypress, 

 Paludna and other Pines, but may also be found in Oak and 

 Rhododendron and Evergreen forests. They prefer broken ground 

 and are often to be found on very precipitous hillsides, so steep 

 indeed as to make it hard ^^•ork following them ; on the other hand, 

 they may sometimes be found in smooth and even country, such as 

 a plateau of a hilltop or the cup lying between tw^o or more. 

 Wherever they may be, however, there must be lots of cover in 

 which to hide, and plenty of undergrowth in addition to the trees 

 themselves. Wilson, or "Mountaineer ", undoubtedly the keenest 

 observer-sportsman of the middle of the last century, wrote of this 

 bird : 



" In the lower regions its favourite haunts are in wooded 



" ravines, but it is found in nearly all hillsides which are 



" covered with trees and bushes, from the summit of the ridges 



" to about half-way down. Farther in the interior it is found 



"scattered in all parts, from near the foot of the hills to the 



" top, or as far as the forest reaches, seeming most partial to 



" the deep sloping forest composed of oak, chestnut and 



" Morinda Pine, with box, yew and other trees intermingled, 



"and a thick undergrowth of Riugall.'' 



As a sporting bird the Koklas ranks veiy high, and even now 



few will be found to dispute Hume's diclum that of ail the Hill 



Pheasants " the Koklas is the best eating and affords the best sport.'' 



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