62 LTL.OYD’S NATURAL HISTORY. 
absent, and only obscurely represented on doth webs of the 
outer pairs of tatl-feathers, those on the middle pairs being 
rudimentary, and represented by undefined black spots. 
Total length, 19 inches ; wing, 71 ; tail, 3; tarsus, 2°4. 
Range.—Indo-Chinese countries, extending in the north- 
west to Sikhim, eastwards to the Laos country, and -south- 
wards through Tenasserim as far as Mergul. 
Mr. A. O. Hume writes:—‘' This species occurs at very 
varying elevations. I have received it from places in Cachar 
and Sylhet, and from the base of Nwalabo in Tenasserim, 
from localities little above sea-level, while, again, Davison 
obtained it almost at the summit of Mooleyit, at quite 6,000 
feet elevation. But though it occurs right down on the 
plains, it is so far a hill-Pheasant that it chiefly affects hills 
and their immediate neighbourhood, and is never found in 
any considerable numbers at any great distance from these.” 
Mr. R. A. Clark gives the following information :—“ The 
Peacock-Pheasant is very common in North-eastern Cachar, 
where it is found in dense bamboo jungle, on the sides 
of ravines, and on the tops of the low ranges of hills where- 
ever there are /démun trees, as well as on the banks of the 
river ‘ Barak,’ wherever it is well-wooded. On the rocky 
faces of the ‘ Barak’ banks there is a tree which, during the 
rainy season, is partially submerged, but in the cold weather 
bears a fruit with seeds like those of a ‘chilli.’ On these the 
birds feed greedily in the early morning and towards sunset. 
Insects and worms, with this fruit, form their chief food, but I 
have on one occasion found small land shells and pebbles in 
the stomach of an adult male. 
“These birds may be heard in the early morning and at 
sunset calling, and then the male is generally to be found 
perched on some branch only a few feet off the ground. The 
call is Ha-ha-ha-ha, something like a laugh, and can be heard > 
from a good distance; the female’s note I have never heard. 
“From November to April these birds are found all over 
