﻿CHEER 
  PHEASANT 
  53 
  

  

  together 
  with 
  his 
  friend 
  Wilson 
  have 
  given 
  very 
  excellent 
  accounts 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  based 
  

   on 
  many 
  years' 
  knowledge 
  as 
  sportsmen, 
  and 
  from 
  such 
  a 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  the 
  details 
  leave 
  

   little 
  to 
  be 
  desired. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  Cheer 
  is 
  extremely 
  locally 
  distributed, 
  and 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  very 
  capricious 
  in 
  its 
  

   choice 
  of 
  habitations 
  : 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  of 
  a 
  river 
  you 
  meet 
  with 
  plenty 
  in 
  suitable 
  spots 
  ; 
  on 
  

   the 
  other 
  side 
  you 
  may 
  search 
  fifty 
  square 
  miles 
  of 
  most 
  likely-looking 
  country 
  and 
  

   never 
  see 
  one. 
  

  

  " 
  From 
  six 
  to 
  seven 
  thousand 
  feet 
  is 
  the 
  elevation 
  at 
  which, 
  in 
  October, 
  they 
  are 
  most 
  

   common, 
  but 
  in 
  winter 
  and 
  spring 
  they 
  go 
  lower, 
  and 
  some 
  even 
  breed 
  lower, 
  and 
  in 
  

   summer 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  met 
  with 
  up 
  to 
  at 
  least 
  ten 
  thousand 
  feet 
  (I 
  myself 
  killed 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  

   old 
  ones 
  late 
  in 
  June 
  at 
  fully 
  this 
  elevation), 
  and 
  probably 
  higher. 
  Of 
  course 
  they 
  are 
  

   birds 
  of 
  the 
  outer 
  or 
  wooded 
  hills, 
  and 
  once 
  you 
  cross 
  a 
  high 
  snowy 
  ridge 
  that 
  effect- 
  

   ually 
  arrests 
  the 
  clouds 
  of 
  the 
  monsoon, 
  into 
  dry, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  treeless 
  regions, 
  like 
  

   Lahoul, 
  Spiti 
  and 
  Ladakh, 
  you 
  lose 
  the 
  Cheer 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  pheasants 
  but 
  the 
  snow 
  cocks. 
  

   They 
  are 
  all 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  birds 
  of 
  the 
  forest, 
  and 
  all 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  zone 
  of 
  abundant 
  

   rainfall. 
  

  

  "The 
  best 
  places 
  in 
  which 
  to 
  find 
  Cheer 
  are 
  the 
  Dangs 
  or 
  precipitous 
  places, 
  so 
  

   common 
  in 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  interior 
  ; 
  not 
  vast 
  bare 
  cliffs, 
  but 
  a 
  whole 
  congeries 
  of 
  

   little 
  cliffs 
  one 
  above 
  the 
  other, 
  each 
  perhaps 
  from 
  fifteen 
  to 
  thirty 
  feet 
  high, 
  broken 
  up 
  

   by 
  ledges, 
  on 
  which 
  a 
  man 
  could 
  barely 
  walk, 
  but 
  thickly 
  set 
  with 
  grass 
  and 
  bushes, 
  and 
  

   out 
  of 
  which 
  grow 
  up 
  stunted 
  trees, 
  and 
  from 
  which 
  hang 
  down 
  curious 
  skeins 
  of 
  grey 
  

   roots 
  and 
  mighty 
  garlands 
  of 
  creepers. 
  

  

  " 
  If 
  the 
  hill 
  above 
  be 
  thinly 
  wooded, 
  and 
  on 
  some 
  plateau 
  below 
  there 
  are 
  a 
  good 
  

   number 
  of 
  millet 
  and 
  princes'-feather 
  fields, 
  you 
  are, 
  in 
  a 
  Cheer 
  district, 
  next 
  to 
  certain 
  

   in 
  the 
  autumn 
  to 
  find 
  a 
  covey 
  on 
  the 
  upper 
  ledges 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  spot 
  about 
  ten 
  o'clock 
  in 
  the 
  

   morning. 
  

  

  "Then 
  what 
  a 
  morning's 
  sport 
  you 
  may 
  have. 
  You 
  get 
  on 
  some 
  knoll 
  or 
  spur 
  com- 
  

   manding 
  the 
  lower 
  portions 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  clifflets, 
  where 
  you 
  will 
  be 
  clear 
  of 
  the 
  

   stones 
  that 
  the 
  dogs 
  and 
  men 
  inevitably 
  dislodge. 
  The 
  dogs 
  are 
  put 
  in 
  at 
  the 
  very 
  top, 
  

   a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  men 
  climbing 
  with 
  them 
  on 
  such 
  ledges 
  as 
  are 
  accessible 
  ; 
  the 
  stones 
  rattle 
  

   down 
  fast, 
  a 
  pahari 
  slips, 
  shouts, 
  and 
  saves 
  himself 
  by 
  clinging 
  to 
  a 
  branch 
  ; 
  all 
  the 
  dogs 
  

   bark, 
  every 
  man 
  looking 
  on 
  shouts 
  out 
  a 
  different 
  piece 
  of 
  advice 
  if 
  the 
  slip 
  was 
  serious, 
  

   or 
  a 
  separate 
  gibe, 
  if 
  it 
  was 
  trivial, 
  for 
  the 
  benefit 
  of 
  the 
  slipper; 
  all 
  this 
  comes 
  down 
  to 
  

   you 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  hundred 
  feet 
  below, 
  a 
  confused 
  babel 
  ; 
  you 
  scream 
  out 
  ' 
  silence,' 
  then 
  

   a 
  sharp 
  yelp, 
  a 
  volley 
  of 
  screeching 
  chuckles, 
  you 
  see 
  a 
  dark 
  object 
  shoot 
  out 
  from 
  the 
  

   face 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  cliffs, 
  a 
  moment, 
  and 
  it 
  suddenly 
  contracts 
  in 
  size, 
  and 
  the 
  next 
  hurtles 
  

   by 
  you, 
  like 
  a 
  falling 
  thunderbolt, 
  and 
  if 
  you 
  do 
  not 
  miss 
  it, 
  it 
  is 
  quite 
  certain 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  

   not 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  you 
  have 
  shot 
  Cheer. 
  

  

  " 
  But 
  whether 
  hit 
  or 
  missed, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  time 
  to 
  inquire 
  now 
  ; 
  good 
  men 
  are 
  below 
  to 
  

   mark 
  every 
  bird 
  that 
  comes 
  down, 
  dead 
  or 
  alive, 
  half-and-half. 
  

  

  " 
  Another 
  and 
  another 
  of 
  these 
  animated 
  projectiles 
  pass 
  you 
  in 
  their 
  downward 
  rush, 
  

   some 
  out 
  of 
  shot, 
  some 
  so 
  close 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  fire, 
  and 
  very 
  often 
  three, 
  four, 
  

   five 
  in 
  such 
  rapid 
  succession 
  that 
  even 
  with 
  two 
  doubles, 
  in 
  the 
  old 
  muzzle-loading 
  times, 
  

   it 
  was 
  impossible 
  to 
  fire 
  quick 
  enough. 
  

  

  " 
  Twelve 
  or 
  more 
  perhaps 
  have 
  been 
  counted, 
  the 
  dogs 
  and 
  men 
  have 
  worked 
  down 
  to 
  

  

  