38 GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Bill black; irides dark brown; legs and feet ashy. Length 24 

 inches; extent 30; wing 10; tail 12 ; tarsus 2J. 



The female has*the upper plumage pale yellow-brown, variously 

 variegated and banded with dark brown, chesnut, and pale 

 yellowish ; chin and throat yellowish-white ; lower plumage 

 yellow-chesnut, with dark brown markings, paler down the middle 

 of the abdomen, and darker on the flanks. 



Length 20 inches ; extent 28. 



This very handsome Pheasant has* only been found in the N. TV". 

 Himalayas, from the west of Nepal to beyond Simla. It does not 

 occur in Sikim, nor in Eastern Nepal. Gould has figured another 

 supposed new species as P. nipale-nsis, stating that it is smaller 

 and more beautifully colored, the mantle, sides of the neck, and 

 feathers of the flank being conspicuously striated with black, 

 chesnut and grey, whilst the same parts are sombre in the other 

 species. The figures of the two resemble each other so very 

 closely that I cannot help doubting their being really distinct. It 

 would appear that nipalensis extends into the Bootan Himalayas, 

 but it has certainly not hitherto been sent from the intervenm^ 

 Sikim hills. 



For an account of the habits of the Pukras, I again quote from 

 Mountaineer. 



" This is another forest Pheasant common to the whole of the 

 wooded regions, from an elevation of about 4,000 feet, to nearly 

 the extreme limits of forest, but is most abundant in the lower 

 and intermediate ranges. In the lower regions its favorite haunts 

 are in wooded ravines, but it is found on nearly all hill sides 

 which are covered with trees or bushes, from the summit of the 

 ridges to about half way down. Further, in the interior, it is found 

 scattered in all parts, from near the foot of the hills, to the top or as 

 far as the forest reaches, seeming most partial to the deep sloping- 

 forest composed of Oak, Chesnut, and Morenda Pine, with Box, Yew, 

 and other trees intermingled, and a thick underwood of Ringall. 



" The Cocklass is of a rather retired and solitary disposition. 

 It is generally found singly or in pairs ; and except the brood of 

 young birds which keep pretty well collected till near the end of 

 winter, they seldom congregate much together. Where numerous, 



