180 THE WHITE-CRESTED KALIJ. 



I have never known this mode of capture resorted to in the 

 Himalayas, the reason being, I believe, the difficulty that exists 

 in taming the present species. 



Wilson continues : — 



" It feeds on roots, grubs, insects, seeds and berries, and the 

 leaves and shoots of shrubs. It is rather difficult to rear in 

 confinement when caught old ; and the few chicks I have tried 

 have also soon died, though possibly from want of proper care 

 and attention. It is singular that, of the Hill Pheasants, the 

 one most common near the habitations of man should so ill 

 brook the loss of liberty, while the Jewar (Ceriornis melanoce- 

 phalus)> the most retired and solitary of all, is the most easily 

 reconciled to it. 



" In the lower hills, in the absence of larger game, this bird 

 may serve to wile away a few hours of the sportsman's time 

 in almost every place where there is wood or jungle ; narrow 

 well-wooded ravines and thickets of low jungles are the places 

 in which to seek it. A good dog is essential ; and without one, 

 though a bird may be occasionally picked up, it is hardly worth 

 while going out. In travelling in the interior, a dog used to 

 hill-shooting should always, if available, be brought ; and with 

 its assistance a few Kalij may be bagged in some of the 

 coppices and jungle passed through almost every day's march, 

 till the regions where larger game is expected are reached." 



Captain J. H. Baldwin makes some very correct original 

 remarks in regard to this species, which I take the liberty of 

 quoting : — 



" Its favourite habitat is among thick clumps of bushes and 

 shrubs near the banks of rivers, in low valleys through which 

 streams of water run, and on the slopes of hills where there is 

 plenty of low bush cover, especially thorny thickets bordering 

 on cultivation ; in the early morning, the vicinity of an old de- 

 serted cow-shed is a sure resort of this bird if anywhere in the 

 neighbourhood. I have flushed this Pheasant and the common 

 red Jungle Fowl from the same description of cover at the foot 

 of the hills. The call of the bird, which may be heard at all 

 times of the day, is a sharp twut, tivut, tzvut, sometimes very 

 low, with a long pause between each note, then suddenly in- 

 creasing loudly and excitedly. Generally speaking, when utter- 

 ing this cry, which at times might be mistaken by any one un- 

 acquainted with it for that of some small bird, the Kalij is 

 alarmed by a prowling Marten or Hawk hovering overhead, per- 

 haps a dog, but still oftener it is heard when a pair of cocks are 

 about to engage in mortal combat. 



" Not unfrequently a cunning old cock, instead of taking wing 

 at once when the dog is close upon him, has a provoking habit, 

 most irritating to both dog and master, of flying up into a tree, 

 making a prodigious clucking the while, and at the same time 

 taking a look round to see if the coast is clear. The bird in this 



