
consume much grain, and then only waste, and are not budders or fruit 
eaters of note. Furthermore they seldom gather in flocks large enough 
to make a sizeable impact on even their favorite foods. No farmer or 
forester contacted had a word of complaint against this pheasant. 
Usefulness 
As_a source of food -- The flesh of this pheasant is white, 
tender and toothsome except for the normally tough old cock. More 
and better meat is to be found on a kalij than on most junglefowls 
since the birds are larger and less active. 
Because kalij are more difficult to trap and do not congregate 
in numbers as do the junglefowl few birds have ever been sold in Indian 
game markets although they are highly-prized for food. 
As fighting birds -- Though pugnacious, kalij seem never 
to have been trained for fighting for they tire more easily and are 
slower in action than are the favored junglefowls. 
As_a game bird -- Second only to the junglefowl, the kalij 
provides more shooting and sport than any other pheasant in India. 
Commonly, though by no means always, found on rough, often steep terrain, 
its pursuit with a gun is no sport for the physically weak. Yet for 
the alert, energetic hunter the kalij offers a trophy that attracts 
the skilled and the novice alike. 
Basically, kalij pheasants probably can not withstand as 
heavy hunting pressure as can the junglefowl, but there are fewer 
sportsmen willing to course the deeper woods and rougher country where 
it is thoroughly at home. Potentially adaptable to the warmer, rough 
lands and hills of the southern United States, where the ruffed grouse 
does not thrive, its possibilities as a woodland game bird should not 
be overlooked. 
Competition with Other Game Species 
The range of the kalij overlaps to some extent that of the 
junglefowl and of other pheasants such as the koklass, cheer and 
monal, Generally these species seem to pay little attention to one 
another, though at breeding time there may be some aggressiveness 
among male birds. Penned together with other Indian game birds, the 
kalij has not caused trouble. 
On the wing, kalij, while fast, are generally easier to 
shoot than is the eastern ruffed grouse. There is a tendency for 
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