14 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



rhododendron forest at twelve to thirteen thousand feet. From five to ten speckled eggs 

 are laid, in April or May. The eggs are very good eating. 



From my own observation of the equal numbers of the sexes in the coveys, 

 confirming Blanford's statement of the same fact, there seems reasonable evidence of the 

 monogamy of this species. Hooker records "young" seen in May; Jerdon writes of 

 ''nearly half-grown young" in September, with the adults moulting at the same time. 



RELATION TO MAN 



The relation in which the Blood Partridge stands to man is a rather one-sided affair. 

 Unlike some of the kaleege, the Blood Partridges, while not wary birds, will have none 

 of man and his habitations, and soon disappear, if, indeed, they are not shot off, from 

 the vicinity even of a temporary camp. British sportsmen in India look askance at this 

 species as a game-bird, owing both to its unsuspicious nature and its confirmed cursorial 

 habits. When treed by a dog, and absorbed in watching the barking canine beneath, 

 an entire covey may be — and, shame to say, often has been — shot one after the other by 

 the so-called sportsman. 



The history of Blood Partridges on the Singaleela Range, that high spur which 

 extends from a point north-west of Darjeeling northward toward Kinchinjunga, is 

 significant of what will soon universally be true of other parts of their limited haunts. 



Jerdon mentions a covey crossing his path near Tonglo. An English sportsman 

 records that on November lo, 1880, near Sandukphu, a little farther north on the same 

 ridge, he shot thirty-six birds, of which twenty-two were cocks. In 1900 he rather 

 naively writes that the Green Blood Partridge is not now to be seen at all along the 

 Nepal boundary, owing to the forest chowkidars snaring them at all times of the year. 



Ten years later, when I visited the southern part of the Singaleela Ridge, I found 

 that this statement was still true, and that the species was entirely absent, Only after 

 crossing the deep gorges of several intersecting streams to the north did I find any trace 

 of these birds, and not until I made a second long circuitous expedition to the vicinity 

 of the snows in Nepal were Blood Partridges found in coveys of any size. 



Every year there is a greater demand for sheep, and the Nepalese shepherds 

 consequently increase in number, and seem to spend most of their time in snaring birds 

 of all descriptions. Both nooses and deadfalls are used. But the Blood Partridges 

 suffer far less than the tragopans, as we shall have occasion later to note. 



Unlike some species of pheasants, these birds do not take kindly to captivity. 

 Even in Darjeeling several attempts to keep Blood Partridges have ended in failure, the 

 birds living less than two weeks. Although I have inquired carefully, I can find no 

 record of this species in any European zoological garden until the year 191 1. On 

 June 3 of that year a pair of Blood Partridges were successfully landed in England and 

 placed in the London Zoo. These, however, died a very short time after their arrival, 

 their death being, perhaps, due to the unseasonable hot weather. Unfortunately, no 

 particular notes were made on the living birds. Mr. W. Frost, who succeeded in 

 bringing this pair of birds from India, writes me that they were captured early in 

 January, and during their voyage and until their death six months later they were 

 apparently in excellent health. They were dainty, rather fastidious feeders, with little 

 liking for grain, although during the time when they were being brought down from the 



