206 THE VERMICELLATED PHEASANT. 



They are regular Fowl Pheasants, and with dogs afford a 

 certain amount of sport, but when bagged are no great luxuries 

 for the table. The flesh is white and free from unpleasant 

 flavour ; but rather dry, and in old males tough enough. They 

 rarely, if ever, have any fat about them, and when roasted could 

 hardly, I believe, be distinguished from ordinary Indian domestic 

 fowls. 



Writing from Northern Pegu, Captain Feilden says : — " This 

 bird is tolerably common in the hills west of Thayetmyo, but 

 appears to be unknown to any but Burmese It seems to re- 

 quire rock and very steep hill-sides, covered by long grass, for 

 shelter, and flat alluvial soil, bare of grass and covered with 

 brushwood and young trees, for feeding ground ; in fact, its 

 feeding ground is precisely the same as that of the Black 

 Woodpecker, and I have several times lost a bird of each 

 species by being undecided which to fire at. 



" An old male is a most extraordinary looking bird. The 

 tail only is seen moving through the long grass, and I invari- 

 ably thought at first that it was some new porcupine or badger, 

 or some animal. The note, too, adds to the deception ; it re- 

 minded me a little of the cries of young ferrets. 



" They run with great rapidity, but rise readily before a dog, 

 and would not be difficult shooting but for the steepness of the 

 hill-sides on which they are found, and the nature of the soil — 

 gravel just stuck together by the material that forms the petri- 

 fied wood so common there. This, covered by grass or dried 

 bamboo leaves, makes the footing so slippery that any attempt 

 to raise my gun hurriedly generally brought me to my knees. 



" These birds feed a great deal on the young shoot of a kind 

 of Orchis, which rather resembles a large Roselle flower, and 

 its juicy leaves enable these Pheasants to live for some time 

 far away from water ; but in the middle of the hot-weather they 

 are forced to retire from the Thayetmyo Hills by the long 

 grass being burnt. They return at the beginning of the rains. 

 They hatch in August." 



Mr. Oates remarks: — "This species is common throughout 

 the whole of Pegu east of the Irrawaddy. 



i( It is rare or common just in proportion as the country 

 is level or mountainous. In the plains or undulating portion 

 of Upper Pegu it will be met with in small numbers, if the 

 ravines and nallas are sufficiently precipitous to suit its taste ; 

 but in these places, at the best, only one or two will be shot in a 

 long morning's work. It is not till we get to the foot of the 

 hills that this Pheasant can be said to be common. Here 

 the nallas, with their pools of water and rocky beds, are parti- 

 cularly favourable to it. As we mount higher, it increases in 

 numbers to such an extent that it is no difficult matter to 

 knock over half-a-dozen in a morning while marching, and that 

 without leaving the path. 



