354 
HABITS OF THE MONAUL. 
mile and more without seeing one ; then suddenly he may arrive at 
a locality, only a few hundred yards in circumference, where a score 
of birds start up one after the other. Elsewhere, they are scattered 
over all the country, — one here, another there, two a little further 
on, and so forth. The females, be it observed, are more gregarious 
than the males, and descend much lower. They quit the dim shelter 
of the forest, and seek open and sunny places, and even resort to 
the neighbourhood of man. The two sexes often separate. In the 
valleys, and on the humid flanks of the mountains, dozens of young 
birds and females are found, without a single adult male ; while in the 
interior of the forests and on the heights we meet with males only. 
In summer they disperse still more widely ; and it is certain that at no 
time does the male appear to feel any disquietude about the fortunes 
of his mate and their offspring. 
From April until the beginning of winter, the monaul is timorous 
and wary ; but under the influence of the cold and of the snow, which 
renders more laborious his search after food, he loses his fear, and even 
to a great extent his prudence. After October, he shows himself more 
frequently in the open places, is less solicitous about concealment. In 
the spring, when he is easily scared, he often flies to a great distance ; 
and if disturbed a second time, will not again give you a chance of 
approaching him. 
When hunted in the forest, he flies silently, without first running ; 
in the meadows and clearings he runs before he flies, especially if 
he be not pressed very closely. "When he rises there, it is with a 
loud rustling noise, and a shi'ill piercing cry, which he repeats several 
times, until he glides off into his usual note. If one or two monauls 
are roused by the sportsman, the others listen attentively to their 
voices : if they belong to the same flock, all rise simultaneously ; if 
they are separate^, they take to flight one by one. In winter they 
show a greater independence of one another — are always, as it were, 
upon their guard ; but they seldom use their wings until they have 
been affrighted in their own persons. If incessantly hunted down, 
they grow very shy and timid, and will abandon their usual haunts — 
especially in spring, when their food is abundant everywhere ; while in 
