THE OOLOGIST. 



81 



In summer they do not keep strictly in 

 pairs. I doubt whether they pair at all 

 where they are numerous, as several may 

 often be seen together. When the female 

 begins to lay the male deserts lier and after 

 that pays no attention whatever to her. 

 From spring till October it is wild and shy, 

 but as the cold season approaches it becomes 

 quite tame, and may oiten be approached 

 within gun-shot, and when flushed, it us- 

 ually alights on a tree at no great distance. 

 In spring, when the snow has melted and 

 they have no difficulty in procuring food, 

 they often fly a great distance when disturb- 

 ed, but in winter when food is scarce, they 

 do not much heed the appearance of man. 

 The females seem always less shy than the 

 males. When niaking a Jong passage, af- 

 ter flying a short distance they cease flap- 

 ping their wings and soar along at a con- 

 siderable height in the air, the magnificent 

 plumage of the male when thus elevated in 

 the rays of the sun making it appear in 

 many respects the most beautiful of the 

 Pheasants. 



The whistle of the Monaul is loud and 

 plaintive, and may generally be heard ear- 

 ly in the morning or toward evening. When 

 the shades of a dreary winter evening are 

 closing in the snow-covered hills of the Him- 

 alayas, the melancholy call of this Pheas- 

 ant seems to correspond with the cheerless 

 aspect of nature around. It feeds in au- 

 tumn on a grub which . lies under decayed 

 leaves or in the grain fields, where it may 

 often be seen digging. At other seasons it 

 feeds on roots, leaves, acorns, seeds, ber- 

 ries, &c. 



The female makes her nest under a bush 

 or tuft of grass, and lays five eggs, of a dull 

 white color speckled with reddish-brown. 

 The young are hatched about the end of 

 May. The flesh is thought by some to be 

 as good as that of the turkey, by others 

 scarcely fit to eat. In autumn and winter 

 the youug are undoubtedly excellent food. 

 They have been reared in confinement in 

 England. The reader will doubtless recog- 

 nize a similarity insome of the habits of this 

 bird to those of our Ruffed Grouse {Bona- 



sa tcmbellus). One in particular I will 

 mention, that is, when disturbed in winter 

 it often alights in trees, when, according 

 to Mountaineer, the sportsman may shoot 

 one without much disturbing the others. ■ 



Peculiar Habit of the Hornbill. . 



rpRAVELERS have often endeavored to 

 -*- account for the peculiar habit of the Af- 

 rican Hornbills of plastering up the openT 

 ing of the cavity used as the nest, but none 

 have yet come to any satisfactory conclu- 

 sions regarding it. Many say that the 

 hole, being originally of large size, would \ 

 readily admit numerous destructive ani- 

 mals and that the mud is placed over it to 

 exclude these. The narrow aperture left 

 for the bill of the bird is thus too small for 

 the entrance of any animal. Some say the 

 birds never use anything but the fine light 

 clay found in the beach-lands for this pur- 

 pose ; others state that any kind of earth 

 sufficiently moist is used, except clay, as- 

 serting that if clay were used, it would ; in 

 such a warm climate become so hardened 

 that it would be impossible for the birds 

 eventually to break it. A query arises 

 here : does the female Hornbill toss her 

 food while thus imprisoned before swallow- 

 ing it? Writers do not seem to have made 

 note of this point, or to have ascertained 

 whether or not the male prepares the food 

 previous to feeding the female. 'Singular 

 as it may seem, most of the accounts giv- 

 en by observers agree as to the species of 

 tree selected for the nest, that is the mo- 

 pane, a tree of exceeding hardness and 

 toughness. 



OOLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 



We would respectfully call the attentiori 

 of collectors to our stock of Egg Drills, 

 Blow-pipes and other requisites. We have 

 SEVEN grades of Drills in stock. 



S. L. WiLLARD & Co. 



Oneida Street, Utica, N. Y. 



