BLACK-BACKED KALIJ 187 



Black-backed Kalij. 



*Gennaus melanonotiis. Muthura, Bengali. 



The black-backed kalij of Sikkim, although generally similar 

 to the last two species, blue-black above and dirty white below, 

 differs from both in having no white at all on the upper surface, 

 not only the crest, but also the rump being blue-black continuous 

 with the rest of the upper parts, whose silky purple seems to me 

 particularly uniform and rich in this species. The crest, as in 

 the last species, is not so long as in the white-crested kind ; but 

 the bird seems to be quite as large. The weights of these kalijes, 

 however, intergrade so that size cannot be considered of any 

 importance in dealing with them. 



The hen is of the same sober brown as that of the other two, 

 with narrow crest ; but like that of the Nepal kalij, she is 

 rather darker altogether than the hen of the white-crested bird. 

 The legs are described as pale horny brown, darker than those 

 of the white-crested. 



This kalij extends into Bhutan on one side of its range, 

 while on the other it encroaches on Nepal, but its characteristic 

 home is Sikkim ; its Lepcha name is Kar-rhyak, Kirrik in Bhutan. 

 It ranges from quite the foot of the hills up to 6,000 feet, and is 

 common in tea gardens, or used to be, but more than a genera- 

 tion ago Hume noted that the garden coolies used to find its 

 nests among the tea and destroy its eggs, so that he anticipated 

 it would become comparatively rare, especially as it was inclined 

 to affect the outer hills which were being taken up for tea- 

 cultivation rather than the interior. 



It always keeps to cover of some sort, and is just as much at 

 home among the tea as in jungly growth ; ravines well bushed 

 over are its favourite haunts. Gammie found it very tame in 

 Sikkim, so that when met with feeding on the roads in morning 

 and evening it would only walk out of the way when disturbed. 

 During the day it shuns the sun, and seldom perches unless put 

 up by some enemy on the ground. Human intruders it avoids 



* EuplocamuH on plate. 



