90 PHAS1ANIDJE. 



tail-coverts black with broad white edges ; quills dark brown, 

 secondaries with green gloss on the outer webs ; tail-feathers 

 blackish brown with a slight greenish gloss ; chin, throat, abdomen, 

 and lower tail-coverts dark brown, passing into sullied white on the 

 lanceolate breast-feathers ; sometimes the whitish tint extends 

 over part of the abdomen, bases of feathers brown throughout ; 

 feathers with pure white shafts, especially on the upper back and 

 the breast. 



Female. Upper parts, crest included, reddish brown ; shafts and 

 edges of feathers whitish, and all feathers minutely subobsoletely 

 vermiculated with black ; lower surface similar bub paler ; chin, 

 throat, and middle of abdomen whitish ; middle pair of tail- 

 feathers rufous brown with fine whitish or buff vermiculation ; 

 other tail-feathers black with a slight bluish gloss. 



Bill greenish white ; irides orange-brown ; bare eye-patch 

 scarlet to crimson : legs and feet livid white, with a purplish or 

 brownish tinge (Hume). 



Length of male "24 to 29 ; tail about 11 ; wing 9'5 : tarsus 3 ; 

 bill from gape I 1 4. Length of female 20 to 23 ; tail 8 ; wing 8 ; 

 tarsus 2'7. 



Distribution. The Himalayas, from Kumaun to Hazara ; not 

 west of the Indus, according to Biddulph, nor in Nepal, or only 

 in the westermost part, ranging from about 2000 feet, close to 

 the base of the hills, up to about 5000 or 6000 feet in winter and 

 9000 or 10.000 in summer. 



Habits, fyc. This is the most familiar of the Himalayan Pheasants, 

 being frequently seen about villages and cultivation in the lower 

 Himalayas ; it has a preference for low coppice, bushes, or wooded 

 ravines near water. It is not very gregarious ; its call is a loud 

 whistling chuckle, which is generally uttered when the bird flies 

 away. The males are very pugnacious, and make a drumming 

 noise with their wings as a challenge. This species breeds from 

 April till June, forming a slight nest of grass &c. on the ground, 

 and laving usually about nine eggs, creamy white to reddish buff, 

 and measuring about 1*94 by 1*44. 



1337. Gennaeus leucomelaims. The Nepal Kalij Pheasant. 



Phasianus leucomelanos, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii, p. 633 (1790). 

 Gallophasis leucomelanus, Hutton, J. A, S. B. xvii ; pt. '2, p. 694 ; 



Scully, 8. F. viii, p. 345. 

 Euplocamus leucomelanus, Hume, S. F. vii, p. 428 ; id. Cat. no. 810 



bis ; id. 8f Marsh. Game B. i, p. 185, pi. 

 Gennaeus leucomelanus, OgilvieGrant, Cat. B. M. xxii, p. 300. 



Kdlij, H. ; Rechabo, Bhutia. 



The male is distinguished from that of the last species by having 

 a black crest glossed with purplish blue, and the white terminal 

 bars on the lower back and rump are, as a rule, narrower. The 

 female shows no constant distinction from that of G. albicristatus, 

 but is generally darker and the middle rectrices more rufous. 



