BLYTH'S TRAGOPAN 79 



hand, they formed mad torrents of muddy water, hurling themselves from rock to rock 

 in a blinding spray of yellow foam ; or pouring themselves in a headlong tumult over 

 broken rapids or actual waterfalls. Far above these streams — which in the distance 

 looked like silver ribbons, towered the crests of Mahadeo, Hengmai, Hungrum, and 

 other mountain peaks, narrow spurs jutting from their sides and running down into the 

 valley beneath. At the feet of these mountains the vegetation was most luxurious and 

 massive ; magnificent forest trees reared their heads a hundred feet above the scrub 

 and jungle which grew below them, but, as one ascended above four thousand feet 

 the vegetation began to be more scanty, and from five thousand upward, stunted oaks, 

 seldom more than thirty feet high, formed the principal part of the forest. Even here, 

 however, the jungle was most lovely, for every tree trunk and every swaying bough was 

 wreathed with masses of moss, amongst which nestled orchids of all colours and kinds. 

 That beautiful scented orchid, the white snowdrop-like Celogyne, filled the air with its 

 odour, and on every side the Dendrobia chrysotoxicum and densifloruni showed their 

 masses of yellow blossom against the vivid green moss. Nor was the undergrowth 

 unworthy of the rest of the forest. Here and there jasmine flowered and clambered in 

 wild profusion ; here and there were banks of bracken, looking as if imported from some 

 Welsh mountain side, and everywhere were glades of various bigonias, with their multi- 

 coloured foliage and flowers, and ferns of all kinds, from the most delicate trailing 

 maidenhair to palm ferns as tall as the oaks around them. 



" High up near the crests of one of these mountains ran a tiny rill, tinkling and 

 trickling amongst the pebbles of soil laid bare during heavy rains, until with many 

 others of its merry brethren it lost its identity in the rivers below. 



"At the edge of this little streamlet I lay down amongst the moss and ferns 

 prepared to watch whatsoever animal life might decide to show itself. 



" Birds of all kinds were numerous and bold, taking little notice of the dull-clad 

 human. A bevy of yellow-throated minivets flew from tree to tree ; the orange and 

 grey males constantly uttering their musical notes, as they flitted along in their follow- 

 my-leader style from one fine field of insect game to another. A pair of scaly-breasted 

 wrens bustled about over a fallen log, rather shy at first and resenting my presence 

 with shrill cries, but soon becoming reconciled, and once more busy collecting material 

 for their nest, hanging amongst the moss on a tree near by. Then a flash of transparent 

 pink, yellow and grey, gliding from one tree-trunk to another, told me of the flight of 

 one of the tiny flying lizards and almost urged me to rise and catch it — if I could — but 

 laziness triumphed and I remained on my mossy bed. I had lain there about an hour 

 and was almost dozing, lulled by the soft breeze and the hum of cicadas and grass- 

 hoppers, when a chuckling call and a scratching amongst the undergrowth across the 

 stream recalled me to my senses. At first I credited this call to a Horsfield's kaleege 

 pheasant, though these are rare at this elevation, but presently a richly coloured brown 

 bird made its way into the open space. This bird, I saw at a glance, was no hen 

 kaleege, for even at the distance it then was I could see, without using my glasses, that 

 the feathers were marked with broad striae or bands of colour darker than the rest. I 

 had, however, never seen a hen Tragopan, and could not recognize what it was until she 

 was followed by her mate, and a magnificent male specimen of Blyth's Tragopan, 

 resplendent in his crimson glory, burst upon my view. 



