LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES xi 



PHOTOGRAVURES 



Photogravure i6. GARHWAL— THE HAUNTS OF THE WHITE-CRESTED 



KALEEGE . . . . . . . . Facing page 14 



Photograph by William Beebe. 



Deodars, spruce and silver firs cover many of the slopes of lower Kashmir and Garhwal, and 

 offer sanctuary to White-crested Kaleege Pheasants. In the pleasant twilight of these forests, each 

 glade seems to have its own dominant perfume. One is starred with myriad, long-stemmed straw- 

 berry blooms ; in another the pale blue faces of a multitude of violets show faintly. Shrubs are 

 hung with bright panicles of bell blossoms, and the background of ferns is here and there picked out 

 with the white lacework of saxifrage. Here we find the nest and eggs of this Kaleege, brooded by the 

 patient, brown mother, and here the little chicks, at her alarm note, dive among the leaves and moss 

 and remain motionless until reassured by her brood call. 



Photogravure 17. SIKHIM— IN THE HAUNTS OF THE BLACK-BACKED 



KALEEGE ....... Facing page 34 



Photograph by William Beebe. 



On the sheltered open slopes, tree ferns filter the sunshine through emerald filigree. In the 

 neighbouring forests we find damp moss hanging from bark, twig and leaves, and the hoofs of deer 

 and the feet of pheasants sink deeply into soft mould. These kaleege are confined to a tiny bit of 

 the earth's surface in Sikhim and Western Bhutan, but dangers are numerous and they are on guard 

 every moment of the day, watching for snakes, civets, or even little mild-mannered mountain bears, 

 who know how delicious a tneal these birds furnish. 



Photogravure 18. WHERE HORSFIELD'S KALEEGE MAKES ITS HOME 



Photograph by William Beebe. Facing page 46 



These pheasants wander in families or small companies through the dense jungles, coming 

 now and then upon beautiful streams, flowing slowly and quietly around the roots of great trees, or 

 pouring in a headlong cascade over a ledge of rocks. Here the birds slake their thirst and then pass 

 on again into the forest. I once watched a pair of birds scratching and pecking on a hillside among 

 green begonias and jack-in-the-pulpits, making the leaves and twigs fly in all directions. The 

 sound could be heard for many yards, but the vigilance of the birds never relaxed, and at the 

 slightest suspicion of danger they were off like two meteors. 



Photogravure 19. NORTHERN BURMA— YUNNAN BORDER— HOME OF THE 



HYBRID KALEEGE Fadngpage 84 



Photograph by William Beebe. 



Standing on the high divide which shunts its eastern waters into China and its western into 

 the great rivers of Burma, a great, tumbled, irregular mass of mountains and valleys is seen. All 

 are forest, clad with bamboo, oaks and hard wood, and here, hidden beneath that vast extent of 

 many-tinted foliage, I found the northern Kaleege pheasants. 



LINE OF KACHIN PHEASANT TRAPS 



The Kachins and other native tribes use a deadly method of trapping. A low fence of split 

 bamboo runs uphill and down for a mile or more, with dead falls every {^-^ feet. When this is in 

 full operation, few pheasants fail, sooner or later, to be caught, and whole districts are thus cleared 

 of these splendid birds. 



Photogravure 20. A SANCTUARY OF THE HYBRID KALEEGE . Facing page 86 



Photograph by William Beebe. 



The natives of northern Burma captured many specimens of Hybrid Kaleege for me, taking 

 them either in deadfalls or in nooses. But there was one spot near their villages where they would 

 never trap or kill. This was the sacred spot or grove devoted to the Nats or evil spirits. And here 

 the pheasants were safe from molestation, and here they scratched for food and roosted high at night. 



