208 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



often with little or no use of the wings in the case 

 of ground birds, are quite the normal thing in hill- 

 living birds, as in so many species inhabiting the 

 Himalayas ; the splendid Monaul or Impeyan 

 Pheasant (Lophophorus refulgens), for instance, ranges 

 up to the very edge of the forest belt in summer, 

 and comes down in winter into the lower deciduous 

 woods, where there is more chance of food. Wild 

 Turkeys in America used to wander long distances 

 in search of mast, acorns, etc., though their powers 

 of flight are so limited that in crossing a river a 

 mile broad, some of the weaker birds were certain 

 to fall in and have to finish the transit as best they 

 could by swimming, and it took days of gobbling 

 exhortation from the old cocks to get the emigrants' 

 spirit up to the pitch of starting at all. 



Want of food is obviously the chief reason why 

 birds of high elevations or high latitudes have to 

 leave their haunts ; cold is by itself very little 

 operative, for it is not surprising that birds prove 

 comparatively indifferent to it, considering their 

 naturally high temperature and particularly warm 

 clothing. Not only do numerous tropical Finches 

 and Parrakeets winter safely in outdoor aviaries, 

 but of our poultry the majority come from hot 

 climates, the Fowl and Peacock, for instance, being 

 typical inhabitants of the plains and foothills of 

 India. With the end of autumn, however, comes 

 not only scarcity of food, but absence of cover, 

 owing to the deciduous character of so much 

 temperate vegetation, so that both for fear of 



