PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



"Mr Davison says that in his opinion these cleared spaces 

 are undoubtedly dancing-grounds, but he was never able to 

 catch one of the birds actually dancing in them. The 

 proprietor was always either seated quietly in the clearing 

 or was moving slowly backwards and forwards, calling at 

 short intervals. Except in the hours of feeding or drinking 

 in the morning and evening, the male Argus Pheasants were 

 always to be found at home, and they roost in the trees close 

 to their clearing. They are remarkably shy birds, inhabiting 

 the depths of the dense evergreen forests, and are most 

 difficult of approach, as they dive into the impenetrable 

 thickets on the first suspicion of danger, and never fly if 

 they can escape by running, even when pursued by a dog. 

 Even if the hunter manages to approach the playing-ground 

 so stealthily that only a few yards separate him from the 

 calling bird, the latter has always disappeared when at last 

 he is able to see into the clearing through the dense inter- 

 vening foliage. It is therefore impossible to shoot the birds, 

 but they are somewhat easily trapped when once their 

 playing-ground is discovered. 



" Thus Mr Davison himself used to catch them by 

 building a hedge of cut scrub round the playing-ground, and 

 leaving four openings for the bird to enter by, each furnished 

 with a running noose attached to a bent sapling, but the 

 Malays take advantage of the idiosyncrasy of the Argus to 

 keep its clearing scrupulously clean, and act accordingly. 

 A bit of bamboo, about i8 or 20 inches long and 

 a ^ of an inch wide, is shaved down till it is of the 

 thickness of writing-paper, the edges being as sharp as 

 a razor. This narrow pliant piece ends in a stout sort of 

 handle at one end, 6 or 8 inches long, which is driven 

 firmly into the ground in the middle of the cleared space. 

 The bird in trying to remove it, scratches and pecks at it, 



102 



