﻿16 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  America, 
  and 
  of 
  macrolopha 
  only 
  three 
  individuals 
  are 
  recorded 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  kept 
  

   in 
  the 
  London 
  Zoo, 
  the 
  last 
  over 
  forty 
  years 
  ago, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  lived 
  three 
  months. 
  

  

  KOKLASS 
  SHOOTING 
  

  

  Advice 
  to 
  which 
  I 
  can 
  heartily 
  subscribe 
  is 
  given 
  to 
  sportsmen 
  by 
  Hume 
  when 
  he 
  

   says, 
  " 
  Unless 
  you 
  are 
  a 
  man 
  of 
  iron, 
  able 
  to 
  walk 
  40 
  or 
  50 
  miles 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  without 
  

   fatigue, 
  and 
  able 
  to 
  go 
  uphill 
  just 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  downhill, 
  it 
  is 
  all 
  nonsense 
  going 
  

   pheasant-shooting 
  in 
  the 
  Himalayas 
  without 
  the 
  necessary 
  aids 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  proper 
  

   manner. 
  

  

  "You 
  must 
  have 
  good 
  dogs 
  (small 
  cockers 
  are 
  best), 
  thoroughly 
  under 
  control, 
  who 
  

   will 
  work 
  exactly 
  to 
  command, 
  and 
  obey 
  the 
  whistle, 
  and 
  you 
  must 
  have 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  

   intelligent 
  hillmen, 
  something 
  of 
  sportsmen 
  themselves, 
  to 
  search 
  out 
  the 
  shooting- 
  

   grounds, 
  and 
  when 
  you 
  are 
  shooting, 
  mark 
  the 
  birds 
  that 
  get 
  away 
  from 
  well-chosen 
  

   posts. 
  I 
  used 
  to 
  have 
  four 
  dogs 
  and 
  over 
  a 
  dozen 
  men. 
  

  

  " 
  Lastly, 
  you 
  must 
  go 
  in 
  for 
  small 
  game 
  as 
  your 
  object, 
  and 
  not 
  humbug 
  after 
  big 
  

   game. 
  If 
  a 
  kakur 
  jumps 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  grass 
  before 
  you, 
  roll 
  him 
  over 
  with 
  shot. 
  Have 
  

   a 
  rifle 
  along 
  with 
  you, 
  and 
  if 
  in 
  beating 
  a 
  gloomy 
  ravine 
  for 
  hill 
  partridges 
  an 
  old 
  

   sarrow 
  or 
  a 
  precipitous 
  dang 
  or 
  cliff 
  for 
  cheer 
  a 
  gooral 
  or 
  two 
  break, 
  do 
  your 
  best 
  

   with 
  them, 
  and 
  if 
  when 
  high 
  up 
  after 
  moonal 
  or 
  tragopan 
  or 
  snow 
  cock, 
  a 
  tahr 
  or 
  

   burrel 
  gives 
  a 
  chance, 
  by 
  all 
  means 
  take 
  it. 
  But 
  if 
  you 
  really 
  want 
  to 
  make 
  bags 
  of 
  

   pheasants 
  and 
  the 
  like, 
  you 
  must 
  make 
  them 
  your 
  object. 
  Of 
  course, 
  too, 
  you 
  must 
  get 
  

   right 
  away 
  from 
  hill 
  stations 
  and 
  avoid 
  lines 
  on 
  which 
  other 
  people 
  have 
  been 
  recently 
  

   shooting 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  hills 
  are 
  so 
  vast, 
  and 
  so 
  very 
  few 
  men, 
  even 
  to 
  this 
  day, 
  go 
  in 
  earnest 
  

   for 
  small 
  game, 
  or 
  can 
  get 
  leave 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  October 
  and 
  November, 
  which 
  is 
  

   the 
  real 
  time 
  for 
  pheasants, 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  easy." 
  

  

  Owing 
  to 
  the 
  shyness 
  of 
  the 
  Koklass 
  pheasants 
  and 
  their 
  solitary 
  nature, 
  combined 
  

   with 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  pursuing 
  them 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  their 
  steep 
  haunts, 
  these 
  birds 
  will 
  

   probably 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  hold 
  their 
  own 
  for 
  many 
  years. 
  Many 
  sportsmen 
  have 
  written 
  

   of 
  the 
  great 
  difficulty 
  of 
  shooting 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  brace 
  in 
  a 
  day, 
  but 
  occasionally 
  one 
  

   may 
  have 
  better 
  luck. 
  An 
  anonymous 
  writer 
  has 
  given 
  an 
  excellent 
  account 
  (Jour. 
  

   Bombay 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  Soc. 
  XIX., 
  p. 
  797) 
  of 
  such 
  an 
  experience 
  which 
  is 
  well 
  worthy 
  

   of 
  reproduction, 
  as 
  a 
  sidelight 
  upon 
  the 
  Koklass 
  from 
  the 
  English 
  sportsman's 
  point 
  

   of 
  view. 
  "There 
  is 
  a 
  tremendous 
  amount 
  of 
  luck 
  in 
  the 
  sort 
  of 
  shooting 
  I 
  am 
  about 
  

   to 
  describe, 
  and 
  a 
  lot 
  of 
  hard 
  work. 
  About 
  4.30 
  a.m. 
  I 
  hear 
  a 
  voice 
  which 
  says 
  : 
  

   ' 
  Save 
  char 
  bajee; 
  and 
  it 
  seldom 
  has 
  to 
  be 
  repeated 
  for 
  me 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  year, 
  

   which 
  is 
  October, 
  as 
  previous 
  shooting 
  and 
  prospecting 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  sharpened 
  

   my 
  senses 
  ; 
  possibly 
  exercise 
  has 
  made 
  my 
  liver 
  a 
  few 
  sizes 
  smaller, 
  hence 
  I 
  am 
  

   less 
  somnolent. 
  It 
  will 
  not 
  be 
  light 
  until 
  6 
  a.m., 
  but 
  I 
  like 
  to 
  have 
  plenty 
  of 
  time 
  

   over 
  a 
  light 
  breakfast, 
  as 
  I 
  shall 
  not 
  eat 
  again 
  until 
  12 
  noon 
  ; 
  also 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  long 
  tramp 
  

   before 
  the 
  shooting-ground 
  is 
  reached; 
  5.15, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  ready 
  for 
  the 
  khud 
  side. 
  My 
  

   two 
  companions 
  for 
  the 
  day 
  are 
  a 
  sturdy 
  hill 
  native 
  and 
  a 
  little 
  brown-and-white 
  

   spaniel, 
  the 
  sort 
  so 
  common 
  among 
  the 
  men 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  regiments 
  in 
  the 
  Punjab. 
  

   She 
  was 
  selected 
  when 
  six 
  weeks 
  old, 
  and 
  commenced 
  her 
  training 
  shortly 
  afterwards, 
  

   and 
  is 
  now 
  almost 
  perfect 
  as 
  a 
  gun-dog. 
  The 
  brilliant 
  moon 
  which 
  now 
  lights 
  our 
  way 
  

  

  