PLATE XI 



BLYTH'S TRAGOPAN 



Tragopan blythi blythi (Jerdon) 



The deep, hot valleys of Assam and the hundreds of miles of lowland plains are populated by many 

 birds, but never a Tragopan is found there. A mapped diagram of the haunts of this bird would appear 

 like a cobweb tracing of all the crests and upper slopes of the higher mountains. Here the oak forests 

 are moss-hung and scented with orchids and jasmine. The ice-cold rivulets are beloved of these birds, 

 and they come out from the bamboo to the mossy boulders to quench their thirst and to send forth their 

 musical clanging cry — a challenge to battle or a summons to a mate, as the case may be. 



