6o A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



Even when apparently alone, however, these pheasants enjoy keeping up a running 

 conversation with themselves. From ambush I have watched a male which, from the 

 open character of the jungle for many yards around, I could be certain was solitary. 

 And yet for twenty minutes it hardly ceased a low, murmuring, content song, inter- 

 rupting it only to seize an insect or to peck at the black mould. There seems little 

 doubt that many of the birds remain mated throughout the year, as pairs of adults have 

 been recorded in every month. 



The calling, or what corresponds to crowing, of the male Peacock Pheasant, is 

 heard throughout the breeding season, and indeed in some places hardly a month passes 

 when it is not uttered. Early morning and late afternoon are the usual times, and the 

 bird perches upon a branch, not its roost, to give voice. At this time it is not difficult 

 to approach, if a step or two is taken at the moment of each utterance. But, in addition 

 to the keen sight and hearing of the bird, we must add the considerable ventriloquial 

 power which characterizes its crow — all these making it necessary to use the greatest 

 care if even a glimpse of the bird is hoped for. The crow has been described as a very 

 harsh, short, double bark, but I think in this description two calls are confused. Its 

 crow is PMe-hoo ! very loud, liquid and penetrating, given sometimes every ten or 

 fifteen seconds, or again with a minute or longer intervening between each call. This 

 is the summons of the cock to a prospective mate, or a challenge to any rival cock who 

 may be within hearing. The next most commonly heard utterance is when the bird 

 gives voice to six to twelve harsh croaks, uttered in rapid succession, suggesting the 

 notes of a frog or toad rather than a bird. This appears to be an expression of 

 suspicion or true alarm. It is often heard after a sudden clap of thunder, or a gunshot, 

 four or five birds scattered along the sides of a valley sometimes joining in simul- 

 taneously. It has been written qua-gua-qua. To my ears, especially when heard near 

 at hand, the syllables sounded more like wak-wak-wak. As I have said, the crow is 

 usually given from a low branch or a fallen tree, never, as far as I know, from the 

 ground. When the bird is mated, the crowing must be wholly in the nature of a 

 challenge, and at such a time the bird sits quietly and reiterates the note, listening 

 intently in the interim. When a mate is desired, as when a cock bird in captivity 

 knows that a female is in an adjoining run, the bird is much more nervous, and walks 

 excitedly back and forth along its perch, now and then half spreading tail and 

 wings. 



I have never seen a Peacock Pheasant in full flight above the tops of the trees, 

 although I have twice seen them scale down from a tree in early morning, perhaps from 

 their roosting-place, and gracefully come to rest on the ground, or in one case upon a 

 rounded boulder at the edge of a stream. When surprised on a low branch they drop 

 to the ground with closed wings, or when come upon in open jungle they leap into the 

 nearest thicket with no attempt at flight. Even when flushed with dogs I have never 

 seen them take to any extended flight, but merely flap easily upward to some branch 

 well out of reach of the yelping canines. Baker, however, has been more fortunate, 

 and says that the pheasant "is a slow, heavy flier until it gets some distance on the 

 wing, when its pace increases and it swoops down the sides of the hills with no little 

 velocity." These pheasants have a beautiful gait when undisturbed, stepping high on 

 their slender, dainty legs, stopping every now and then and looking around for danger, 



