540 PHASIANIN/E. 



soiled btiffish ; throat and breast yellowish ashy, with a few broken black 

 bars ; abdomen dusky ; wing coverts yellowish ash, with curved black bars 

 and shining golden spots in some feathers; primaries dusky, with a few pale 

 yellow bars ; thigh coverts and vent yellowish chestnut marked with dusky. 

 Bill pale horny ; nude orbits bright red ; irides yellowish hazel -, legs and 

 feet brown. 



Length. 34 to 40 inches; wing 9-6 to 10-4 ; tail 20 to 23-0; tarsus 2*8 to 

 2-95 ; bill from gape 1*35 to 1*45. The females are 2410 29-5 in length, with 

 a wing of 8*8 to 9-5, and tail of 13*5 to 15-5. 



Hab. W. and N.-W. Himalayas, Nepaul, Garhwal, Dehra Dhoon, and about 

 Chamba. " Mountaineer," according to Terdon, says that it is an inhabitant of 

 the lower and intermediate ranges, seldom found at very high elevations and 

 never approaching the limits of forest. They are confined to particular 

 localities, and not like other pheasants scattered indiscriminately over almost 

 every part of the regions they inhabit. Grassy hills, scattered oak forests, sites 

 of deserted villages and long grass in precipices are the haunts of this species. 

 In the interior they are often found in the immediate vicinity of villages in flocks 

 of 5 and 6. During the day they sit concealed, and only issue out in the morning 

 and evening to feed. They run fast and lie very close and are flushed within 

 a few yards. " Mountaineer" says he has knocked them over with a stick and 

 even taken them with his hand ; they feed chiefly on roots, grubs, insects, seeds 

 and berries. The Cheer breeds throughout the lower ranges of the Himalayas 

 during April, May and June, making a nest in grass or grass tufts. The eggs 

 are of a pale stone colour, almost devoid of markings, but generally there are some 

 few specks of red at one end. Size, from 2*05 to 2*22 inches X 1-4 to 1*56. 



Gen. EuplOCamuS. Temm. 



Head more or less crested ; orbits naked, red ; plumage glossy black and 

 white ; feathers of the neck and breast hackled ; tail moderately long, of 16 

 feathers, divaricated, raised in the centre, as in Jungle fowl, and held demi- 

 erect, the feathers curving outwards and drooping. (Jerd.) 



1199. EuplOCamuS albOCristatuS (Vigors), Gould, Cent. Him. 

 B. pis. 66, 67 ; Hume, Sir. F. iv. 42 ; id., Str. F. vii. p. 429; Hume and 

 Marsh., Game Birds i. p. 178. Phasianus Hamiltoni (Gray), ffardw., 111. 

 Ind. Zool. i. pi. 41. Gallophasis albocristatus (Vigors), Jerd.> B. Ind. iii. p. 

 532. The WHITE-CRESTED KALIJ PHEASANT. 



A long crest of decomposed feathers white ; head, neck, wings and tail 

 glossy bluish-black; lower back dull white; rump and upper tail coverts 

 broadly tipped white ; throat and breast greyish white, the feathers sharp- 

 pointed; abdomen and vent dark grey. Bill greenish white, dusky at the tip; 

 irides orange brown ; nude orbits bright scarlet to deep crimson, dotted here 

 and there with tiny tufts of abortive black feathers ; legs and feet livid white 



