HORSFIELD’S KALEEGE. 
Gallopliasis horsfieldii. 
Plate XXXIX. 
Living examples of the Purple or Ilorsfield’s Kaleege were first received by the Society in the year 1850, 
through Captain Nesbitt, who then commanded the Nile in the Indian fleet of Messrs. Green and Co., 
but as males were only obtained at that time, no results followed. 
In the month of July, 1857, a large collection of Indian Gallinaceous birds reached the Society. It 
had been accumulated from various quarters by the influence of Lord Canning and the co-operation of 
Lord W. Hay, Major W. E. Hay, Major Ramsay, Mr. 'Keene, Mr. Brian Hodgson, Captain James, then 
Acting Resident at Darjeeling, and other gentlemen holding appointments in the Indian Civil and 
Military Services. The species included in this collection which survived the voyage, were 
The Cheek . Catreus wallichii. 
IJoksfield’s Kaleege . Gallophasis horsfieldii. 
Tiie Black-backed Kaleege . Gallopliasis melanotus. 
The White-chested Kaleege . Gallophasis albocristatus. 
The Monal . Lopliophorus impeyanus. 
The Polyplectkon . Polypleclron chinquis. 
Of Horsfield’s Kaleege there was a single pair. Almost as soon as they were placed in the aviary eggs 
were laid, and notwithstanding the lateness of the season, nine young birds were hatched out and 
successfully reared in the first year. The whole of these young birds survived the winter, which, from 
the late period at which they were hatched, was encountered under peculiarly disadvantageous circum¬ 
stances; and thus gave satisfactory proofs of their hardiness, and good grounds for supposing them well 
suited to resist the vicissitudes of European weather. 
These expectations have not been disappointed, for the Horsfield s Kaleege and its congener s the 
Black-backed and White-crested Kaleeges, as well as the Cheer and the Impeyan Pheasant, have continued 
to breed, under the Society’s care, every season since their arrival; and wo have great hopes of being 
ultimately successful in establishing these splendid birds as permanent denizens of the British islands. 
To show the actual state of facts relative to the breeding of these birds in the Society’s establish¬ 
ment, I subjoin the following table, which gives the results of the breeding-seasons of 1858, 1859, and 1860, 
compared together:— 
Date. 
No. of 
Hens. 
ar 
Young 
hatched. 
Reared. 
Died. 
1858. 
Black-backed Kaleege . 
5 
i 
63 
61 
2 
White-crested Kaleege ...... 
1 
6 
5 
1 
Purple Kaleege . 
i 
> 184 
19 
17 
2 
Cheer Pheasant . 
2 i 
26 
25 
1 
55 
impeyan Pheasant. 
2 
J 
12 
8 
4 
a 
184 
126 
116 
10 
1859. 
Black-backed Kaleege . 
3 
59 
18 
16 
2 
White-crested Kaleege . 
2 
33 
12 
9 
3 
Purple Kaleege . 
1 
22 
8 
7 
1 
Cheer Pheasant . 
2 
44 
19 
15 
4 
55 
Impeyan Pheasant. 
2 
10 
5 
3 
2 
10 
168 
62 
50 
12 
1860. 
Black-backed Kaleege . 
3 
47 
27 
14 
13 
White-crested Kaleege . 
2 
24 
20 
12 
8 
Purple Kaleege . 
i 
17 
ii 
8 
3 
Cheer Pheasant . 
1 
20 
13 
7 
6 
55 
1 Impeyan Pheasant. 
3 
33 
11 
4 
7 
1 
10 
141 
82 
| 45 
37 
The young birds bred every year are parted with to the Fellows of the Society and other persons 
who make application for them, and there has hitherto been found little difficulty in the disposal ot 
them. It may be mentioned that Lord Hill has already turned out some ten or twelve pairs of the 
Black-backed Kaleege, bred from stock originating in the Society’s establishment, in his coverts at 
llawkstone, in Shropshire, and gives a very favourable report of the way in which they have adapted 
themselves to their new home. 
The accompanying plate represents the adult male of the llorsfield’s Kaleege, or Purple Pheasant, 
as the species is called at Darjeeling. The female closely resembles those of the other two species of 
Kaleege, but is of a deeper and more purple brown than they are, and is somewhat larger and heavier. 
The eggs are of a beautiful pale purplish tint, minutely dotted with white, as may be seen on reference 
to the figures of them and of the eggs of the other introduced Indian Pheasants, which are given in the 
Society’s “Illustrated Proceedings” for 1858. 
