THE GREY PEACOCK PHEASANT 6i 



as motionless as stone, and often with one foot drawn high up. When running at full 

 speed the head and tail are held low and the legs seem fairly to twinkle, so rapidly do 

 they move. 



The diet of these pheasants is varied, and includes seeds, both hard and soft, small 

 fruits, leaves, insects and worms of all kinds and small snails with their shells. 

 Several writers have mentioned trees which, when the fruit ripens, prove very attractive 

 to Peacock Pheasants, and these birds may be found in early morning, both in the 

 branches and on the ground, feeding upon this fruit. When I have shot birds near 

 Kachin villages I have invariably found paddy in the crop, together with small insects. 

 They are especially fond of a small fruit, not more than lo mm. in diameter, which in 

 colour and shape exactly simulates a miniature tomato. 



I found one undoubted roost in Burma where two birds rested every night, but 

 once when I had approached by moonlight, and had made out the two silhouetted 

 against the dim light, I tripped over a meandering liana and thoroughly alarmed the 

 pheasants, and the following night they deserted the place for a less conspicuous one. 

 The roost was on the horizontal branch of a deciduous tree, under which sprouted a 

 dense growth of bamboos. I cut my way later into the heart of these, directly beneath 

 the branch, and from the abundance of sign the roost must have been occupied for many 

 weeks. 



I saw no actual tragedies in the lives of these creatures, but the certainty of a 

 trapped bird being found and devoured within an hour or two after capture showed how 

 numerous are the enemies of this species. I never observed any intimate companionship 

 between these Peacock Pheasants and babblers, such as exists in the case of Gennaeus, 

 perhaps because the former, being so solitary in their nature and quiet in their pro- 

 gression through the forest, do not frighten up the insects for which the babblers are on 

 the look-out, and which form the main bond in this chance association. 



In scouting for Gennaeus I now and then caught a glimpse of this bird in the 

 valleys along the northern Burma- Yunnan border. In December the birds were usually 

 solitary, associating neither with their own kind nor with other species. 



For many minutes one day I watched one scratching near a clump of bamboo, 

 among the half-decayed fallen stems. Unlike most pheasants, it did not raise the head 

 high, now and then, to take a survey, but kept a keen watch with eyes and ears as it 

 sought for food. Bamboo sheaths were falling all around through the branches with a 

 succession of loud swishes, or giving forth a sharp, almost catlike snarl as they struck 

 a living stem and the two silicious surfaces glanced together. The disappearance of 

 this bird revealed the wonderful woodcraft of these creatures. It moved a few inches 

 from one spot to another, where I could see it in dark silhouette as it scratched. After 

 a moment it ceased and I watched, as it stood absolutely motionless for several minutes. 

 I rose and walked toward it, and still it never moved, until, when I reached the spot, 

 I found that its apparent form had dissolved into a medley of distant shadows. The 

 pheasant had vanished utterly. 



Only once did I see a Peacock Pheasant in the trail, when my pony turned a sharp 

 corner. It falls a frequent victim to the snares of the Kachins and other wild tribes 

 hereabouts. 



