PtrCRASIA. 411 



Pucrasia macrolopha (Less.). The KoMcfss. 



Pucrasia macrolnpha (Less.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 524 ; Hume, Rough 

 Draft N. % E. no. 808. 



The Koklass, or, as some sportsmen call it, tlie Pukras, breeds 

 throughout the Himalayas from Cashmere to Bhootan in all well- 

 wooded localities, at elevations of from 6000 to 9000 feet. The 

 bird itself. may be shot at any elevation from 3000 to 11,000 feet; 

 but it only nests, according to my experience, between the limits I 

 have indicated. The breeding-season lasts from the middle of 

 April until the middle of June, according to locality and season, 

 but the majority lay, in normal seasons, during the first half of 

 May. 



Little or no nest is made ; a circular depression is scratched in 

 the ground, in a thick shelter of undergrowth or under some huge 

 root or overhanging rock, and in this uulined, or but sparely lined 

 with leaves, moss, or dry grass, or all three, the eggs, from five to 

 nine in number, are laid. 



Mr. "Wilson, quoted by Dr. Jerdon, remarked, some twenty years 

 ago, that " the i'emale lays seven eggs nearly resembling those of 

 the Moonal in colour. They are hatched about the middle or end 

 of May. 8he makes her nest under the shelter of an overhanging 

 tuft of grass, or in a corner at the foot of a tree, and sometimes in 

 the hollow of a decayed trunk." 



Now writing to me from Gurhwal, he says : — " The Koklass 

 breeds at elevations of from 5000 to 10,000 or 1 1,000 feet, in cop- 

 pices and forests with some underwood. The nest is a hole scraped 

 in the ground, and always sheltered under a tuft of grass or thick 

 bush or overhanging stone, and it is sometimes made in the hollow 

 at the foot of a big tree or old trunk. As a rule, the number of 

 eggs seems to be nine. It begins to lay early in May, but some 

 not till the end of the month. The eggs are sharp-pointed, say 

 about 2'26 long by 1-5 wide, yellowish or dirty white, powdered 

 and spotted and blotched with chocolate. Both birds are generally 

 found with the young brood. The male chicks of this and the 

 Kali] get their proper plumage the first year. By the middle of 

 September they are pretty well grown." 



The eggs are oval, more or less pointed towards the small end, 

 and vary a good deal in size and shape, as in the case of the Pea- 

 fowl, some being much broader and others more elongated ovals. 

 None that I have seen have been at all of the ovoido-conoidal 

 shape of the Francolins and the Common Pheasant {P. colchicus). 

 The shape is more that of the true Partridge, Oalloperclix and 

 Oallophasis. The ground-colour is a rich pale buff, and the eggs 

 are, some densely and thickly speckled and spotted, and others 

 boldly but thinly blotched and spotted, with deep brownish red, 

 which is dullest in the speckled, and brightest and deepest in the 

 blotched varieties. 



The eggs of these two types vary more in appearance than might 

 perhaps be supposed from the above description. One egg wall 



