90 WANDERINGS OF A 



cooler regions of the middle ranges to the forests bordering on 

 the plains of India, 



Its favourite food consists of acorns, earth-mits, bulbs, 

 wild strawberry, currants, etc. They may be met with in 

 scattered flocks, singly, or in pairs. 



The breeding-season commences about April, when the 

 wailing cry of the males resounds through the mountain, and 

 might be mistaken for that of any of the larger falcons. The 

 female monal lays four to six eggs, very similar in colouring 

 to those of the turkey. The young bird has the dark brown 

 plumage of the female until the autumnal moult. It has cer- 

 tain names in different localities — for instance, about Mus- 

 souree and Simla it is known by the name Monal ; to the 

 eastward it is called Batteah Cowan, and Monalee. The male 

 is the fjont and the female the Ham of the Cashmerians, who 

 adorn their mosques with the brilliant feathers of the male. 



The plach pheasant, known by the local names Pukras, 

 Coclass (Pucrasia macrolopha), is less plentiful, and does not 

 appear so generally distributed as the monal. 



There are, besides, two or three other species very closely 

 allied, but the above is the most common. Its distribution 

 does not yet seem clearly defined, but from all accounts it is 

 most abimdant in the western ranges, and rare towards the 

 eastward. In Nepal it is probably replaced by another 

 species, and again, in the woods and forests of Cashmere, I 

 have frequently observed (though never shot) a species which 

 may turn out to be new. 



The male plach is 24 inches in length ; the head is glossy- 

 green, except the crown feathers, which are ash-brown. They 

 are long and tapering on the side of the neck, where there is 

 a large white spot. The breast, middle of the beUy, and tail 

 are dark chestnut, the latter tipped with white ; the rest of 



