132 PHEASANTS ADAPTED FOE THE AVIARY. 



be obtained in the open downs above, and amongst the rocks and thin herbage near 

 the snow. In autumn, as the underwood decays, they descend and scatter through 

 the woods, sometimes in great numbers, and seek lower levels as the winter advances 

 and the soil becomes frozen. At such times they draw near to the small villages, 

 perched on the lower spurs and above the sheltered vaUeys, and seek their food in 

 the fields, where the mountaineers, with their large hoes, have dug up the soil. In 

 these seasonal migrations it has been remarked that the females and young birds 

 descend lowest and approach nearest to human habitations. 



"They appear to be either capricious in their rambles .through the woods, or 

 are actuated to particular spots at particular times for reasons not apparent. Some- 

 times the sportsman wiU put up in one part of the forest fifteen or twenty in the 

 space of four or five acres. Ip. another portion he may keep on flushing for the 

 rest of the day single birds, feeding in solitude, far apart. At no time are they 

 gregarious, and whenever alarmed they rise and escape independently of each other. 

 In some parts only cock birds are found, in others only hens. 



" Severity of cold and scarceness of food have their taming effect on the 

 monaul, as on other birds, and the lower the snow the easier the task of making 

 a bag. "When on the wing, it generally flies a long way, and if much alarmed 

 crosses over to a parallel ridge. Occasionally, however, it will settle on the low limb 

 of a tree, at no great distance, and once there, it is, like many other gallinaceous 

 birds, easy of access. 



" Sometimes when approached in open spots it walks off, or begins to run, 

 stopping often and eyeing the intruder, till suddenly, and without apparent immediate 

 cause, it will rise with a startling flapping or flutter of the wings, scattering the 

 dead leaves in a shower around, and fly headlong into the wood with a succession 

 of short, piercing, shrieking whistles, which appear to act as a warning to some 

 distant companions, for their calls are often heard in reply. "When feeding quietly 



and in security the monaul has a sweet, mellow call— a long plaintive note which 



it utters from time to time, especially of a morning and after sunset. It has the 

 same melancholy effect on the ear as the creaking whistle of the curlew winging 

 his way along the mudflats as evening settles over the lonely shore. The call has 

 a rather melancholy sound, or it may be that as the shades of a dreary winter's 

 evening begin to close on the snow-covered hills around, the cold and cheerless 

 aspect of nature, with which it seems quite in unison, makes it appear so. 



"The monaul breeds towards the end of spring. The courtship is carried on 

 in the chesnut and large timber forests before the birds ascend, during the summer 

 heats, towards the regions of perpetual snow. It is generally near the upper limits 

 of these forests, where the trees are dwarfed and sparingly scattered, that the hen 

 lays and incubates three to five eggs, in a depression on the ground. The eggs are 

 of a dull cream or pale buff colour, sprinkled with reddish brown. Like most 



