246 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



will settle on the low limb of a tree, at no great distance, 

 and once there, it is, like many other gallinaceous birds, easy 

 of access. 



" Sometimes when approached in open spots it walks off, 

 or begins to run, stopping often and eyeing the intruder, till 

 suddenly, and without apparent immediate cause, it will rise 

 with a startling flapping or flutter of the wings, scattering 

 the dead leaves in a shower around, and fly headlong into the 

 wood with a succession of short, piercing, shrieking whistles, 

 which appear to act as a warning to some distant companions, 

 for their calls are often heard in reply. When feeding 

 quietly and in security the Monaul has a sweet, mellow call 

 a long plaintive note which it utters from time to time, 

 especially of a morning and after sunset. It has the same 

 melancholy effect on the ear as the creaking whistle of the 

 curlew winging his way along the mudflats as evening settles 

 over the lonely shore. The call has a rather melancholy 

 sound, or it may be that as the shades of a dreary winter's 

 evening begin to close on the snow-covered hills around, the 

 cold and cheerless aspect of Nature, with which it seems quite 

 in unison, makes it appear so. ^*^ 



" The Monaul breeds towards the end of spring. The 

 courtship is carried on in the chesuut and large timber 

 forests before the birds ascend, during the summer heats, 

 towards the regions of perpetual snow. It is generally near 

 the upper limits of these forests, where the trees are dwarfed 

 and sparingly scattered, that the hen lays and incubates 

 three to five eggs, in a depression OD the ground. The eggs 

 are of a dull cream or pale buff colour, sprinkled with 

 reddish brown. Like most gallinaceous birds, the Mouaul 

 may be said to be omnivorous. Those I have had in confine- 

 ment ate rice and grain readily, as well as insects, worms, 

 maggots, flesh, lizards, fish, eggs, &c. It is a diligent digger, 

 and the slightly expanded tip of the mandible acts like a hoe 

 or shovel. I had several of these birds in an aviary at Mullye, 

 in Tirhoot. They were strong and vigorous as long as the 



