PHOTOGRAVURE lo 



WESTERN HIMALAYAN HOME OF THE IMPEYAN 



Two miles above the sea, in the coniferous forests of Garhwal. 



Between a jagged bit of rock and a sturdy deodar, I crouched early in the morning, every needle 

 and leaf about me drenched with dew. Behind were six ranges of mountains, dropping away from the 

 fathomless valley at my feet, and yet rising ever higher and higher to the distant Tibetan snows. 



Before me was a glade surrounded by small trees, and having the appearance of recent ploughing 

 or of thorough trampling by the hoofs of a great herd of cattle. This was a feeding ground of cock 

 Impeyans, and within an hour on this particular morning fourteen full-plumaged birds appeared. Wielding 

 their beaks like picks, they dug deep holes and overturned clumps of turf in their eager search for grubs 

 and succulent tubers. Probably each had a mate somewhere in the surrounding forests brooding her eggs, 

 but each morning these birds, too gaudy to dare to approach their nests, came here for a social meal, then 

 separated to feed alone during the remainder of the day. 



