THE CHEER. 173 



about one spot for several days or weeks, and then shifting 

 to another, but never entirely abandoning the place, and year 

 after year they may, to a certainty, be found in some quarter 

 of it. 



" During the day, unless dark and cloudy, they keep con- 

 cealed in the grass and bushes, coming out morning and 

 evening to feed. When come upon suddenly while out, they 

 run off quickly in different directions, and conceal themselves 

 in the nearest cover, and seldom more than one or two get on 

 the wing. They run very fast, and if the ground is open and 

 no cover near, many will run two or three hundred yards in 

 preference to getting up. 



"After concealing themselves they lie very close, and are 

 flushed within a few yards. There is, perhaps, no bird of its 

 size which is so difficult to find after the flock have been dis- 

 turbed and they have concealed themselves ; where the grass 

 is very long, even if marked down, without a good dog it is 

 often impossible to flush them, and even with the assistance of the 

 best dogs not one-half will be found a second time. A person 

 may walk within a yard of one, and it will not move. I have 

 knocked them over with a stick, and even taken them with the 

 hand. In autumn the long grass, so prevalent about many of 

 the places they resort to, enables them to hide almost anywhere ; 

 but this is burnt by the villagers at the end of winter, and they 

 then seek refuge in low jungle and brushwood, and with a dog 

 are not so difficult to find. 



u Both males and females often crow at daybreak and dusk, 

 and in cloudy weather sometimes during the day. The crow is 

 loud and singular, and, when there is nothing to interrupt, the 

 sound may be heard for at least a mile. It is something like the 

 words chir-a-pir, chir-a-pir, chir chir, chirwa, chirwa, but a good 

 deal varied ; it is often begun before complete daylight, and in 

 spring, when the birds are numerous, it invariably ushers in the 

 day ; in this respect it may rival the domestic cock. When pairing 

 and scattered about, the crow is often kept up for nearly half an 

 hour, first from one quarter, then another ; and now and then all 

 seem to join in a chorus. At other times it seldom lasts more 

 than five or ten minutes. 



" The Cheer Pheasant feeds chiefly on roots, for which it digs 

 holes in the ground, grubs, insects, seeds and berries, and, if near 

 cultivated fields, several kinds of grain form a portion of its 

 diet ; it does not eat grass or leaves like the rest of our Pheasants. 



" It is easy to rear in confinement, and might, without difficulty, 

 be naturalized in England, if it would stand the long frosts and 

 snows of severe winters, which I imagine is rather doubtful. 



" This bird flies rather heavily, and seldom very far. Like 

 most others, it generally utters a few loud screeches on getting 

 up, and spreads out the beautifully barred feathers of its long 

 tail both when flying and running. It does not perch much on 



