GREY JUNGLEFOWL 235 



met with in any particular spot, they are certain, if not disturbed in the interim, to be 

 found again in the same place at about the same hour the next or any subsequent day 

 on which they may be looked for. There was one particularly fine and remarkably shy 

 and cunning old cock that frequented an open glade in the forest (above the Government 

 Cinchona Plantations at Neddivuttum) in the morning, whereas in the evening he always 

 came into the plantation and wandered about under the cinchona trees, and along the 

 plantation roads. He never, to my knowledge — and I must have seen 'him fifty times 

 at least — came into the plantation in the morning, or into the glade in the evening. 

 There was no doubt as to this being the same bird that frequented the two places 

 (nearly a quarter of a mile distant), for he was the largest, handsomest, and to judge 

 from his spurs, the oldest cock I ever saw. ' I loved that cock as a brother I did,' and 

 at last I circumvented and shot him." They are occasionally found among evergreen 

 forests in the mountains, and near the edge of the plains I have surprised them among 

 semi-arid vegetation, cacti and euphorbias. They are found in greater numbers in light 

 deciduous jungles, but their favourite haunts are hillsides covered with bamboo jungle, 

 whether small and thin in character or among thick, giant stems. 



Where the jungle reaches the shore, these birds may be found within sound of 

 the breakers at sea-level, and from here they range upward to four and five thousand 

 feet. Indeed on Dodabetta Mountain, in the Nilgiri Hills, individuals have been seen 

 at seven thousand feet elevation. In spite of this very considerable altitudinal range, 

 there is no seasonal migration, owing to the tropical latitude, there being not sufficient 

 extremes of temperature to induce any change of locality. There is, however, in many 

 places a very marked seasonal wandering in search of food, or rather in search of some 

 variety of food which becomes locally abundant at a certain period of the year. Thus 

 we read that while usually the birds are evenly scattered over a given district, when a 

 certain tract of bamboo comes into seed, the Junglefowl will collect in large numbers, 

 again dispersing when the food is consumed. Hume quotes an authority who says : 

 *' I remember on one occasion when the undergrowth of the Sholas about Pykarra 

 (which consists almost entirely of Strobilanthes sp.) seeded, the Junglefowl congregated 

 there in the greatest numbers, I mean by hundreds, and were excessively numerous for 

 more than a fortnight, when they gradually dispersed, owing, I believe, not so much 

 to the seeds having all been eaten, as to what remained of them having sprouted and 

 so become uneatable." 



Where quiet jungle roads are found, frequented by cattle and mules, these birds 

 will often be found in the early morning, and as many as fifteen have been seen within 

 the space of a few miles. The Grey Junglefowl is decidedly not a gregarious bird, 

 however, and I have never heard of a real flock or covey, except as above mentioned 

 when numbers are associated temporarily for the purpose of enjoying some favourite 

 article of food. When several are found together, it will be noticed that there are 

 almost never more than two adults, presumably the parents of the remaining more or 

 less immature birds. Generally they are found singly or in pairs. As with many 

 birds, I believe that the pairs are associated throughout the year, although they may 

 feed day after day by themselves. It may be that there is some sort of reassociation, 

 however, during the hot weather and rains, for at such times the cocks seem to be 

 solitary, while when one hen is flushed, several others are often to be found close by. 



