COMMON KOKLASS PHEASANT 15 



upward we find a gradually retarded period until the middle of June sees the last laying 

 on the upper slopes. The second and third weeks of May mark the height of the 

 season when the great majority of Koklass begin to sit. 



As we have observed, Koklass are strictly monogamous, and the cock apparently 

 does not go far from the vicinity of the nest during the weeks of incubation. At least 

 in several instances, I found them morning, noon and evening always within a hundred 

 yards, and frequently closer to their patient mates. One would never know from their 

 actions that a nest and mate were near. They are very wary, and when disturbed 

 invariably give utterance to some sound, either of suspicion or fear, apparently for the 

 benefit of the sitting bird. At other times of the year this is not always the case, and 

 they may be flushed without uttering a note. The cock joins the hen and her chicks 

 when these are hatched, and assumes his full share of duty in caring for them. 



The choice of a site is rather varied. It may be in the very heart of a patch of 

 low undergrowth, or in the shelter of a mossy boulder or close to a tree-trunk. I have 

 seen them with only fifteen-inch grass to shelter them from the open sky, although the 

 grasses were somewhat arched over the sitting bird. I have never seen any evidence 

 of an actual hole scratched in the ground, as is mentioned by several observers. The 

 nests I have seen were depressions in the turf made only by the weight and constant 

 shifting of the bird's body. In one instance where the nest was on a slope, the depres- 

 sion was so shallow that one of the eggs had rolled a foot away, and the embryo was 

 dead. The only lining appears to be the grass, leaves or moss which were on the spot 

 when the bird began to lay. These soon die and become pressed down into the form. 



I have found two, six and seven eggs, the former an unfinished set. Nine is the 

 largest recorded number, and seven seems to be the average. The eggs are of a regular 

 oval and quite glossy. The ground-colour is a rich creamy buff and does not exhibit 

 very much variation, sometimes being a little darker than usual. The markings, how- 

 ever, vary to a very great degree, although I do not find any division into the two 

 general types of which Hume writes. Between the two extremes all intermediate 

 phases of marking are to be found. The eggs from any one bird are usually quite 

 similar, however, and it has been observed in captive birds of another species kept in 

 China that this correlation between an individual and a certain pattern of egg persists 

 year after year, even in spite of changed food and aviary. 



Against the creamy buff background are handsome dots and blotches of a deep 

 reddish or chocolate brown, which in the centre of the larger spots is almost black. 

 One extreme of marking occurs where the reddish pigment is in the form of small dots 

 no larger than the head of a pin, and so thickly and evenly covering the whole surface 

 of the shell that the spaces between the dots are no larger than the dots themselves. 

 This is rather rare. The other extreme is where the pigment has run together into a 

 few irregular spots and blotches, with the remainder of the shell almost unmarked. 

 The finer-marked shells look like diminutive turkey or impeyan eggs. There is a good 

 deal of variation in size, the length varying from 47 to 57 mm., and the breadth from 

 35 to 40 mm. The average egg is about 52 x 37 mm. 



The Chinese species of Koklass have been more often kept in captivity than the 

 Himalayan ones, but all are very rarely brought out of Asia alive, and it is seldom 

 that a living specimen can be secured. No living Koklass has ever been brought to 



