PHOTOGRAVURE 41 



WESTERN HIMALAYAN HOME OF THE CHEER PHEASANT 



Where the spires of tens of thousands of deodars and spruce climb the mountains, and close around 

 the out-jutting boulders, the hardy Cheer Pheasants spend their days, feeding, sunning themselves, or 

 dusting their plumage at the very brink of the precipices. 



The open slopes and cliffs are steep, and as I climbed them In search of the Cheer, I had to cling 

 to the shrubs, bright with clusters of scarlet rhododendron blooms, and to the rocks to aid my unsteady, 

 shifting footing. For yards I trampled on edelweiss and myriads of tiny, pale blue forget-me-nots, while 

 on the shady sides of the rocks begonias carpeted the bare surface, their dainty pink blossoms waving on 

 long, curved stalks with every breath of the mountain breeze. 



