
wet and temperate type forests. Rainfall at this station averages 
126 inches a year. This species is also found in ravines with dense 
thickets adjacent to tea plantations into which it may feed and 
sometimes nest, if sufficient ground cover is present, At lower 
elevations ideal habitats contain steep gullies on hill slopes that 
are densely overgrown and in close proximity to water. 
Soils are mainly the same as with the two preceding species 
but tend to be more acid. 
-The_black-breasted kalij pheasant occupies a wider range 
than any of the other kalij pheasants. This bird is found commonly 
along rivers and extends out into the locally rough, forested plains 
up to 50 miles, as well as in low-lying hill forests. It intermingles 
with the red junglefowl along the Brahmaputra River in Assam in brushy, 
wooded edges, with elevations varying from 115 to 348 feet at opposite 
ends of its river habitat. 
This species is most abundant from the plains level up to 
3,000 feet, though some birds live in the Himalayas in eastern Bhutan 
up to 6,000 feet. In the lower, mountainous country, hot, humid 
valleys adjacent to fairly dense to thick, generally moist forests are 
much preferred. 
Soils at lower elevations are largely recent alluvial 
formations over old sandstones and shales, whereas in the hill forest 
areas sandstones and shales, plus crystalline rock outcrops occur. 
Some soils are highly acid, whereas the new alluvial soils of river 
banks are less acidic, often neutral or even alkaline. In the Brahmaputra 
River valley, soils are generally sandy. 
Two types of forests are inhabited by the black-breasted 
kalij, from the plains and river levels up to 3,000 feet. The first 
is a semi-tropical, wet, evergreen forest, mainly of broad~leaved 
species. The second is a mixed deciduous-evergreen type occurring in 
lower rainfall areas, usually less than 90 inches annually. 
Wherever rainfall exceeds 90 to 100 inches, a wet, broad- 
leaved, largely evergreen forest occurs on flat. ground of large alluvial 
plains extending up into the hills. Typical tree species present 
include sal (Shorea assamica), Dipterocarpus, Artocarpus, and Cinnamomun. 
Bamboo is often one of the understory species. An undergrowth of 
broad-leaved, evergreen species is dense in the plains forests but more 
scattered on hill areas. 
Found largely on flat ground and hill country of Assam is 
a mixed deciduous and evergreen forest dominated by broad-leaved 
29 
