The Kaleege. 243 



the outer tail feathers are Ught, marked with black on 

 outer webs. The female in confinement usually lays from 

 eight to fourteen eggs, and the young are most easily reared 

 under a common fowl. 



The genus Euplocamus, to which the Silver Pheasant 

 belongs, includes several species. They are distinguished 

 from the true pheasants by the crest, and by the more fowl- 

 hke form of the tail. The males (and sometimes even the 

 females) are strongly and sharply spurred. The common 

 species, the kaleege or kahj of India, breed very freely, even 

 in confinement, but are not adapted for turning into the 

 covert, as they rise with difficulty, and their flesh is not equal 

 for cuUnary purposes to that of the ordinary pheasant. A 

 correspondent writes : " I have been shooting lately in pre- 

 serves where, amongst other game, I had the pleasure of 

 seeing the kaleege on the wing. The birds had been bred 

 under hens from eggs taken from old birds in a mew, treated 

 in the same manner as pheasants, and were at this time — the 

 last week in December — practically as wild as the pheasants 

 in the same coverts. A more unsporting-looking bird on the 

 wing I never met with, or a more unsatisfactory one to knock 

 down. Its flight is low, never rising more than eight or ten 

 feet from the ground, and therefore in a line with everybody's 

 head, consequently a most dangerous bird in a battue. Its 

 flight is more Hke that of a coot or moorhen than any bird I 

 know, the slow, noiseless flight and the dark plumage making 

 it very hke the former bird. It runs much before rising — 

 is very savage, driving away the other game birds, and is the 

 most unsatisfactory game bird I ever saw. My friend with 

 whom I was shooting is therefore kilhng them down." 



Twelve different species of kaleege have at various times 

 been shown in the Zoological Gardens, Eegent's Park. Of 

 these the greater number have bred either with their own 

 species or have produced hybrids with other Euplocami. 

 Amongst those that breed the most freely may be mentioned 

 Swinhoe's pheasant {E. swinhoii), the purple kaleege {E. 



B 2 



