
The understory, especially on moist sites, includes 
Rhododendron, Ilex, Betula, Cornus, Castanopsis, Symplocos, Pieris, 
Euonymous, Pyrus, Prunus and Rubus to name the more characteristic 
genera. 
Undergrowth on the north slope in oak woodlands is fairly 
dense consisting of many genera common to United States woodland 
habitats, such as Rubus, Viburnum, Berberis, Indigofera, Lonicera, 
Desmodium, and Myrsine. Also present in the forest vegetational 
make-up are the genera Vitis, Rosa, Loranthus, Smilax along with 
various Lauraceae and several varieties of bracken fern. In the 
denser forests there is very little grass but a thick grass cover 
develops whenever the forest is opened up. 
Of the same altitudinal range as the oak forests, and 
replacing them on drier, cooler slopes and ridges with considerable 
snowfall, are also found not too dense forests of deodar (Cedrus 
deodara) with some Pinus excelsa. The understory and shrub growth 
includes most of the species listed for oak forests. 
Coniferous forest trees in the highest range of the white- 
crested kalij are common in favorable moist or northern slope situations 
between approximately 8,000 and 10,000 feet or more. Dominant species 
include pine (Pinus excelsa), silver fir (Abies pindrow), spruce 
(Picea) and Quercus. Among the subdominant trees are Acer, Juglans, 
Corylus, Celtis, and Ulmus. Shrubby undergrowth is common, and a 
rich herbaceous vegetation is present particularly during the monsoon 
season, along with a variety of ferns and grasses. 
The Nepal kalij pheasant is most common between 4,000 and 
6,000 feet but ranges as low as 2,000 feet and up to 9,000 feet or more. 
In Nepal where the red junglefowl range ends on the lower foothills, 
the kalij pheasant range begins, extending upward to the range of the 
monal and tragopan pheasants. The latter two pheasants usually live at 
about 8,000 feet. 
Habitat conditions and soils are generally the same as for 
the white-crested kalij. At the higher elevations above 7,000 to 
8,000 feet, heavy winter snows and very cold weather cause the pheasants 
to move downward, whereas summer temperatures result in local upward 
movements for feeding and nesting purposes. 
The black-backed kalij pheasant is found in the eastern 
Himalayan Mountains, being most numerous between 2,000 and 5,000 feet. 
Near Darjeeling, a 7,432-foot hill station, this bird occupies subtropical 
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