
dark brownish gray at the base, light gray to whitish at the tip; 
those of the flanks and abdomen are broader, dark gray with pale 
edges and a white shaft. There is much variation in the colour of 
the crest and of the breast feathers. Irish brown to orange; face 
wattles scarlet, with tiny black featherlets; bill greenish white, 
more or less tinged with blackish at base and on culmen; legs pale 
brown to gray. 
"Length: 650-730 mm.; wing: 225-250mm.; tail: 230-350 m.; 
culmen: 23-30 mm.; tarsus: 75-80 mn. 
_ "As in all subspecies of leucomelana, young cocks assume the 
adult plumage in their first year. 
"Female 
"Long crest dull brown with pale shafts; body plumage pale 
brown, inconspicuously vermiculated with blackish, each feather with 
a pale shaft and a light gray border which is missing in the flight 
feathers; two or four central rectrices brown vermiculated and streaked 
with black and buff, the others blackish with pale tips; belly paler. 
There is a good deal of individual variation in the depth and shade of 
the brown. Soft parts as in the male, but browner. 
-“Length: 500-600 mm.; wing: 203-215 mm.; tail: 205-215 m.; 
culmen: 20-25 mm.; tarsus: 65-70 mm. 
Size and Weight 
The kalij is longer in appearance and somewhat heavier than 
the red junglefowl. In length the adult white-crested kalij is normally 
31 to 34 inches; in weight the males are 2 lbs. to 2 lbs. 6 oz., females 
1 lb. 4 oz. to 2 lbs. 4 oz. Black-breasted kalij may be somewhat larger. 
Habitat and Cover Preferences 
White-crested kalij pheasants are found from the low foothill 
ranges up into the rough, mountainous country of the outer and middle 
Himalayan ranges. They are most common between 3,000 and 7,500 feet, 
often moving higher in the spring and lower in the winter. Other than 
for this altitudinal movement, they are nonmigratory. 
The coverts occupied by the white-crested kalij are fairly 
typical of the group. Kalij seem to be more at home in high forest 
with fair to thick undergowth than are red junglefowl but they also 
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