LINEATED KALEEGE 



Gennaeus lineatus (Vigors) 



Names. — Generic : Gennaeus, from the Greek yEvvaxoq, noble or proud, probably with reference to the bird's 

 carriage. Specific : Lineatus, Latin, striped or lined. English : Lineated or Vermicellated Kaleege. French : 

 Faisan de Regnant ; Houppifere ray6. German : Strichelfasan ; Graufasan. Vernacular : Yit, Kayit, Kanayit 

 (Burmese); Sinlouk (Talaing); Poogik, Phooyk (Karen). 



Brief Description. — Male : Upper plumage vermiculated finely on exposed parts, more coarsely on 

 basal areas, with black and white in equal amounts ; long crest and under parts black, sides of breast and abdomen 

 with white shaft-stripes ; central tail-feathers creamy-white on inner web and at tip. Female : Olive-brown above 

 with pointed white shaft-stripes on the neck and mantle, usually split basally into a V-shape, sometimes simple 

 lines ; secondaries mottled with buff on outer webs ; chin and throat greyish white ; under plumage chestnut ; all 

 the feathers with white shaft-stripes, and dark cross-bars on the abdomen ; middle tail-feathers buff, mottled with 

 black on outer web ; others barred with black, white and chestnut. 



Range. — Valley of the Irrawaddy in Central and Lower Burma, eastward to the Shan States and 

 north-east Siam, and south some distance into Tenasserim. 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



The centre of distribution of the Lineated Kaleege is central and southern Burma, 

 especially east of the Irrawaddy. While its northern boundaries fade gradually into the 

 maze of hybrids, apparently typical specimens have been taken as far north as 24° north 

 latitude. From here southward the Irrawaddy may in general be taken to mark its 

 limits, although many birds have been shot on the western slopes of the river valley, 

 especially from 21° southward. At 18° three typical males have been secured on the 

 western slopes of the Arakan mountains. On the east it ranges well into the Southern 

 Shan States, probably touching the range of nycthemerMS at many points, and has been 

 recorded east of the Salween at about 20° north latitude. How far into Siam it ranges 

 we do not know, but at least as far as 12°. To the south we may include all of the 

 Pegu east of the Irrawaddy and Tenasserim as far as Tavoy in 14° north latitude. 



Within this area, often at the higher altitudes, averaging about two or three 

 thousand feet, appear occasional individuals of what has been called sharpei, a form 

 which I cannot even tentatively admit as a species. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 



Like most of the kaleege pheasants, the Lineated is not a bird of widely ranging 

 habits. When i't finds satisfactory haunts, with food, water, good roosting trees and 

 freedom from molestation, it will spend its entire time within a remarkably limited 

 area, disappearing into the deeper, more isolated parts of the jungle only at the breeding 

 season. Also, like its congeners, it prefers mountainous or at least hilly country to flat 

 plains or grassy prairies, although it lives at moderate elevations and never ascends to 

 the heights that the silver pheasant or some of the Himalayan kaleege attain. Dry, 



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