THE KOKLASS PHEASANTS- 283 



" In the remote forests of the interior, on the report of a 

 gun, all which are within half a mile or so, will often crow after 

 each report. They also often crow after a clap of thunder or 

 any loud and sudden noise; this peculiarity seems to be con- 

 fined to those in dark shady woods in the interior, as I never 

 noticed it on the lower hills. 



*' The Koklass feeds principally on leaves and buds ; it also 

 eats roots, grubs, acorns, seeds and berries, moss and flowers. 

 It will not readily eat grain, and is more difficult to rear in 

 confinement than the Jewar or Moonal. It roosts in trees 

 generally, but at times on low bushes or on the ground. 



" In the lower regions this bird should be sought for from 

 about the middle of the hill upwards ; oak forests, where the 

 ground is rocky and uneven, are the most likely places to find 

 it. Dogs are requisite to ensure sport, and are much to be 

 preferred to beaters, as birds which, if flushed by the latter, 

 would go far out of all reach, will often fly into the trees close 

 above the dogs, and may be approached quite close, seeming 

 to pay more attention to the movements of the dogs than to the 

 presence of the sportsman. In the interior they will be found 

 with the Moonal in all forests, but always keep in the wood, 

 and do not, like it, resort to the borders. They are worth 

 shooting, if but for the table, as the flesh is, perhaps, the best 

 of the Hill Pheasants." 



Captain Baldwin writes : — " The sportsman, on awaken- 

 ing in the early morning, when encamped on the uplands to 

 hunt Thar^ will hear the harsh ' Kokkok pokrass ' cry of this 

 bird on all sides, and Pucrasia viacrolopha, when heralding the 

 dawn of day in this manner, is generally sitting on one of the 

 lower boughs of a cypress-tree."" 



Nest. — A hole scraped in the ground, and sheltered by a tuft 

 of grass or bush or rock, met with at elevations of from 5,000 

 to 11,000 feet. 



Eggs. — Oval, somewhat pointed towards the small end ; rich 

 buff", finely or coarsely marked with brownish-red. They vary 



