66 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



all have been trapped or shot, and I doubt if the kaleege are reared except very rarely 

 by the Chinese. 



In Europe and the United States, however, it is one of the commonest of its 

 family with dealers, and is one of the first to be obtained and bred by the amateur. 

 While these birds are beautiful and hardy, their pugnacious habits make it inadvisable 

 to confine them closely with other birds, while even if given the freedom of coverts, 

 they will usually drive off the other species of pheasants. When a pair is allowed 

 to pair and nest, the cock is very faithful in attendance upon the female and in defence 

 of the young, and this unquestionably points to the monogamous habits of the wild 

 birds. The cock, of course, usually has nothing to do with incubation, although there 

 is actually a record of one bird sitting on the eggs. Its mate had laid four eggs, but 

 failed to hatch young. When a second batch was laid, the cock, in fully adult plumage, 

 began to incubate, and so successfully that three young Silvers were hatched, and 

 were reared by the combined efforts of both birds. This is very unusual, however. 

 But the cock vigorously opposes any threatened danger, and will fearlessly launch 

 himself at the head of any one of whom he has suspicions, and has been known to 

 follow a person indoors to continue his assault. The hens are equally brave, and will 

 drive away cats and dogs whenthey are with a brood of young chicks. 



As furnishing sport in private preserves they are unsatisfactory, as they are 

 difficult to flush, preferring to escape on foot, and even when they take to wing they 

 merely skim the underbrush, offering little chance for other than snap shots, and these 

 dangerous to beaters and to fellow sportsmen. Birds shot under such circumstances 

 have been described as very inferior in flesh, but two which I had cooked in the field 

 left nothing to be desired. The chief objections to their artificial establishment as 

 game-birds are their tameness and their habit of coming close to houses and gardens. 



The wing whirring and courtship are like those of the other kaleege, and the former 

 habit is not confined to the breeding season, but seems to function as a warning signal, 

 and probably in other ways as well. The usual kaleege, broken, semi-liquid, semi-harsh, 

 guttural cry is characteristic of this species. 



When courting there seems to be usually a quite definite utterance, combined 

 with a wing whirr. The cock approaches the hen slowly and in an indirect, sidling 

 manner. He then stops suddenly, faces her, stands erect and utters a two-syllabled 

 note, something like ohr-chac ! short and sudden, the accent on the first syllable. 

 This is instantly followed by an equally short and sharp whirr, thus ohr-chac (whirrrrr !) 

 Then the cock runs or walks swiftly around the hen, with tail and wings spread 

 widely, showing them laterally or frontally, according to his position relative to her eyes. 



When the wing whirr is given as a note of suspicion or upon some similar 

 provocation, it is usually double, thus, whirr ! whirrrrrrrrrrrr ! a short, quick beat, 

 followed by a long roll, during which the half-open wings vibrate back and forth in 

 a maze of motion within a small arc at the sides of the body, the bird standing 

 very erect. 



As a contrast to my observations made on this pheasant in the extreme east of its 

 range in Fokien, I am glad to quote a few paragraphs written by a correspondent 

 of Stuart Baker's, concerning the bird in the extreme west, where indeed the frequent 

 infusion of horsfieldi blood has led to the name ripponi. 



