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Ceriornis melanocephalus, Gray.
 

Vernacular Names.—[Jewar, Jowar, Garhwal; Jaghi, Jajhi, Bussahir; Sing monal (Hindustani), N W. Himalayas; Jigurana, Jeejurana (male), Bodal (female), Kullu, Mandi, Sukeyt; Fulgoor (Pahari Hindi) Chamba.

It is many years since I shot this beautiful species, and it was then neither rare, nor, even in spring and summer, difficult to obtain with good dogs, in suitable localities, and these were forest-clad slopes, ridges and spurs of from eight to eleven thousand feet elevation adjoining or running down from higher snowy ridges. A recent writer, Baldwin, says that this " is by far the rarest of all our Hill Pheasants, and is now, from constantly being snared and shot, seldom met with, and then only in the most unfrequented valleys and regions hardly ever visited by sports­men. In fact, a hunter might wander for years together in our hills without once coming across the bird."

How far it extends in Kashmir is uncertain. Biddulph writes that he has not yet seen it west of the Indus, but it certainly occurs in Hazara. Up to within 15 or 20 years ago, one or two used to be shot every winter on Jakko, the central hill of Simla, which is very little over 8,000 feet elevation.

Of course he might, if he did not know where to look for them, but from all the enquiries I have recently made, I believe there are plenty of Tragopans left, and that though they have been driven away from the immediate neighbourhood of our large Hill Stations, there are enormous tracts in which they are just as plentiful as when I was a boy. .

They were, and always will be, during the warmer seasons of the year (they are much tamer I know in winter) rather wild and shy, given to skulking, and hard to flush, unless by accident you come suddenly upon them. In no place did I ever find them numerous as the Moonal often is ; but, though scattered widely, there were, and the most reliable sportsmen tell me that there still are, plenty of them, if they are looked for in suit­able places, in the right way and with good dogs. To go after Tragopans in summer without these latter, is much like going fishing without hooks.

Writing from Kullu recently, Mr. Young remarks :—

"Once in the trees, they never offered to move, but sat stupidly staring at the dogs, whilst I picked them off one by one.. This, however, was only early in the season ; later they get wiser, and are very wild, going off a long distance after the first couple of shots.

" I have not unfrequently seen this bird in company with the Moonal in the summer months, when I have often found them together in the grassy patches in the higher forests, a small company of a dozen or so of each species, and more rarely one or two Cheer."

It is only in out-of-the-way places that they are thus tame, and I cannot myself say that I have ever found them feeding out in the open; but the habits of all these birds do vary a good deal according to locality, and I quote the above for comparison with Wilson's old note, which, as in many other cases, still gives, to my fancy, the best and most exhaustive account of the habits of this species :—

" Except where an isolated village is situate high up in a densely-wooded locality and surrounded by thick forest, the Jewar is seldom or never found near the habitations of man, but frequents the darkest and most solitary parts of the woods, where it is not often subject to disturbance ; and keeps so still and secluded in their shady recesses, that not one in twenty of the inhabitants of the nearest villages ever see one, except when caught or killed by a shikari.

" In autumn and winter its haunts are in the thickest parts of the forests of oak, chestnut and morenda pine, where the box tree is abundant, and where, under the forest-trees, a luxuriant growth of 'ringal', or hill bamboo, forms an underwood in some places almost impenetrable.

" They keep in companies of from two or three to ten or a dozen, not in compact flocks, but scattered widely over a considerable space of forest, so that many at times get quite separated, and are found alone.

" In places where seldom disturbed, the whole lot are sometimes found within a compass of twenty or thirty yards, while, where often subject to intrusion, they get scattered and keep in ones and twos in different quarters of the forest, but if left undisturbed for a week or two, they will again collect together. They seldom forsake entirely a regular resort, however much disturbed, but get so shy and wary that it is very difficult to find, and almost impossible to shoot them. Here they pass the winter months, seldom wandering away from the particular quarter they have chosen for a resort, which they return to year after year; and while there located, if not disturbed, never leave it to any distance, though many other parts of the wood are exactly of the same character.

" If several lots are in the forest, each lot appear to have their own favourite quarter, and never intermingle with the others.

" The trees furnishing them with a sufficiency of food, though the ground be covered with snow many feet in depth, the severest storms of winter do not, speaking of the species generally, cause them to change their locality. After a severe fall of snow, a few occasionally leave for a time their usual haunts, if in a very bleak quarter, or at any considerable elevation, and are found in places widely differing, as small patches of forest on a bare exposed hill side, narrow wooded ravines, patches of low brushwood and jungle, and anywhere where the ground is sheltered from the sun by trees and bushes. Sometimes one is found in a similar situation in fine weather, probably driven out of its retreat by an Eagle or Falcon ; but these are rare exceptions, and they soon again return to their regular resorts.

" At this season, except its note of alarm when disturbed, the Jewar is altogether mute, and is never heard of its own accord to utter a note or call of any kind, unlike the rest of our Pheasants, all of which occasionally crow or call at all seasons. When alarmed, it utters a succession of wailing cries, not unlike those of a young lamb or kid, like the syllables ' wad, waa, waa', each syllable uttered slowly and distinctly at first, and more rapidly as the bird is hard pressed or about to take wing.

The Nepal Hawk-Eagle, Limnaetus nipalensis, is an inveterate foe to both species of Tragopan and to the Moonal.

" Where not repeatedly disturbed, it is not particularly shy, and seldom takes alarm till a person is in its immediate vicinity, when it creeps slowly through the underwood or .flies up into a tree, in the former case continuing its call until it is again stationary, and in the latter, till it has concealed itself in the branches. If several are together, all begin to call at once, and run off in different directions, some mounting into the trees, others running along the ground.

" When first put up, they often alight in one of the nearest trees ; but if again flushed, the second flight is generally to some distance, and almost always down hill. Their flight is rapid, the whirr peculiar, and, even when the bird is not seen, may be distinguished by the sound from that of any other.

" Early in April they begin to pair ; and the males are then more generally met with than at any other period ; they seem to wander about a great deal, are almost always found alone, and often call at intervals all day long. When thus calling, the bird is generally perched on the thick branch of a tree, or the trunk of one which has fallen to the ground, or on a large stone. The call is similar to the one they utter when disturbed, but is much louder, and only one single note at a time, a loud energetic ' waa', not unlike the bleating of a lost goat, and may be heard for upwards of a mile. It is uttered at various intervals, sometimes at every five or ten minutes for hours to­gether, and sometimes not more than two or three times during the day, and most probably to invite the females to the spot.

" When the business of incubation is over, each brood, with the parent birds, keep collected together about one spot, and descend towards their winter resorts as the season advances; but the forests are so densely crowded with long weeds and grass, that they are seldom seen till about November, when it has partially decayed, and admits of a view through the wood.

" They feed chiefly on the leaves of trees and shrubs ; of the former, the box and oak are the principal ones ; of the latter, ringal and a shrub something like privet. They also eat roots, flowers, grubs and insects, acorns and seeds, and berries of various kinds, but in a small proportion compared with leaves. In confinement they will eat almost any kind of grain.

" Though the most solitary of our Pheasants, and in their native forests perhaps the shyest, they are the most easily reconciled to confinement; even when caught old they soon lose their timidity, eating readily out of the hand ; and little difficulty is experienced in rearing them.

" The sportsman desirous of getting the Jewar should endeavour to learn from the shikaris and people of the place whether any are to be found in the neighbourhood before he commences what may otherwise prove a toilsome and unsuccessful search. You may hunt over very likely forests without finding a single bird, and without previous information there is nothing for it but to work through every part of the wood. In autumn and winter, having learnt that the birds are about, he should proceed to some well-wooded locality, and after taking a survey of the general aspect of the forest, direct his way to some well-wooded ravine or hollow, where the tapering summits of the morenda pine may be seen towering above the rest of the forest trees, and the dense and closely-wooded character of the forest shuts out from a distance all view of the ground.

" If they begin calling while he is at a distance, or the under­wood prevents their being seen, though near, he should press on them as quickly as possible, and endeavour to force them to rise, or try and get a shot while one is passing over some exposed spot, before they conceal themselves, in which they have few equals. If they fly into the trees, the particular tree into which one has flown, must be well marked down, and, if possible, the particular part, or it will be difficult to find it. From the thick and tangled character of the woods where they generally resort, crowded and entangled with multitudinous trunks and arms of trees, and dense clusters of tall ringal, it is seldom a fair shot can be got at them on the wing, and the only alternative is to shoot them in what some will perhaps deem an unsportsman-like way, on the ground, or in the -trees.

A lot once found in any part of the forest, they may, to a certainty, be found again daily at the same spot, or in its immediate vicinity, but each day they will become more shy and wary, and it is useless to hunt for them on the same ground many days successively, as, after being disturbed once or twice, it will be next to impossible to get a shot, though many birds may be found. They will be scattered singly in widely dis­tant places ; some will keep in the trees altogether, one now and then flying off close above the sportsman's head, but so suddenly and rapidly as to leave little chance off his getting a shot at it ; and many, as soon as aware of the sportsman's presence in the wood, will, without waiting for his approach, conceal them­selves so artfully as to leave only a bare possibility of his ever finding them.

" Even if the particular tree into which one has been seen to fly is immediately approached, one may stand for an hour under it, and examine almost every leaf and branch without being able to discover the bird, and should one even succeed in doing this, one is still too often disappointed in getting a shot, as they seem to keep their eye fixed on your movements, and to become aware of the very moment they are discovered, darting off before the gun can be put to the shoulder.

" In spring, which is the season most generally chosen by the sportsman for excursions in the interior, he will have a better chance of finding them than in autumn, as then they are not so restricted in their resorts, but are distributed all over the forests, and the males do not so much covet concealment. They should now be sought for in the higher parts of the forest, where the birch tree begins to make its appearance, and it is advisable to sit and listen at intervals for their call. On hearing it, the sportsman should proceed as quickly and noiselessly as possible to the quarter from whence the sound proceeded, listening at times for a repetition of the call to guide him to the exact spot. The bird will generally be found on some exposed spot where a nice pot shot (oh !) may be had. Great caution must be taken, particularly when getting near, as, if once disturbed, there is little chance of finding the bird again that day.

" The Jewar roosts in trees, and in winter, perhaps for warmth, seems to prefer the low evergreens, with closely-interwoven leaves and branches, to the larger trees which overshadow them."

THE ONLY eggs of the Western Tragopan that I have yet seen are six sent to me by Captain Unwin from Hazara, which were taken on the 25th May 1869 by Captain Lautour, who com- municated to him the following note:—

"I was shooting on a range of hills from 8,000 to 11,000 feet high. The Argus in parts very plentiful, the hills covered with pine forests, and the Argus I used to find about one-fourth of the height of the hill from the top, and they appeared to affect the vicinity and edges of snow nallas and landslips, where there was a fair quantity of undergrowth, and where there were plenty of rocks.

"At the time of finding the nest, I was on the look-out for Pheasants, but the ground being rather stiff, I had just given up my gun to the shikari, when the bird got up almost at my feet. I was going through a pine forest, and had reached a place where an avalanche or landslip had carried away all the pine trees, and in their place, small bushes and shrubs, resembling the hazel, had sprung up. I was descending into this, when the bird got up, as I said before, almost at my feet. The nest was on the ground, and was very roughly formed of grass, small sticks, and a very few feathers ; it was very carelessly built. More I did not observe, as the bird, having gone down close, I wanted to shoot it.

" I did not succeed in doing this, but from the close view I had of it, and the attention I have since paid to all our Phea­sants, I have no doubt the bird was a hen Argus."

Indian sportsman always miscall this species, and the previous one," The Argus." I may add that there is no earthly doubt of the correctness of the identification, as there is absolutely no other bird in the Western Himalayas that could have laid these eggs.

The eggs are more or less elongated ovals, considerably com­pressed towards the small end. They are, as a whole, of very much the same length, but a good deal slenderer than the eggs of the Moonal. The shell is fine, but almost absolutely devoid of gloss. Looked at from a little distance, they appear to be of a uniform colour and devoid of markings, and seem to vary from a pale cafe' au lait to a dull reddish buff; looked into closely they appear to have a somewhat lighter ground colour, excessively finely and minutely freckled and spotted with a somewhat darker shade. They are the least glossy of all the true game birds' eggs that I know, and in shape and texture, though not in tint, remind one not a little of those of the King Curlew and White Ibis, and other birds of that family.

In length they vary from 2.4 to 2.55, and in breadth from 1.68 to 1.72 ; but the average of the six eggs is 2.51 by 1.7.

I HAVE unfortunately lost my paper of measurements, &c, of this species. The following are chiefly from Wilson :—

Males.— Length, 27 to 29; expanse, 37; wing, 11.25; tail, 10.5 to 11 ; tarsus, 3. Weight, 4.5lbs. Bill blackish ; irides hazel brown ; naked skin round the eye bright red, two fleshy horns about an inch and a half long, sky blue ; the gular wattle purple in the middle, fleshy on the sides, spotted and edged with pale blue ; legs and feet pale flesh colour, approaching to white.

I, however, distinctly remember that the horns had sometimes a very greenish tinge ; that there were some blue markings on the face below the eye, and that the pinky portion of the throat lappet was, in some- cases at any rate, a vivid salmon pink. The legs, too, become much redder during the breeding season.

In the cold weather, the horns and lappet shrivel up to nothing, and can barely be traced, and even in the summer it is only when the bird is more or less excited that the horns are raised, or the apron-like lappet extended. Both are of course absent in females, which, moreover, have no naked skin round the eye.

Females.— Length, 24 ; expanse, 32 ; wing, 10 ; tail 9. Legs and feet greyish ashy.

Wilson says :— " The young male for the first year is scarcely to be distinguished from the female ; the second, the red fea­thers on the neck and throat and the white spots begin to make their appearance ; the third, he gets the handsome plumage of the adult males. The flesh is tender and well flavoured."

As to this last, tastes differ ; I should say that they were, as a rule, much like a common village fowl ; no better, and often a good deal worse.

THE PLATE, though really very good in other respects, has the legs of the female wrongly coloured, the eye piece of the male too pink, the bill too light coloured, and omits the blue edgings and markings on the lateral portions of the gular apron.Some females are coloured nearly as in the plate, but the majority are altogether greyer.

An egg of this species will be found figured on the third egg plate at the end of this Vol.

Gould, Cent. Him. B. pls. 63, 64, 65; Jerd., B. Ind. iii. p. 517, No. 806; Hume and Marsh., Game Birds i. p. 143. Phasianus nipalensis (Gray, the female), Hardw., Ill. Ind. Zool. i. pls. 46, 47, 48 and 2 pl. 40; Elliot, Mon. Phas. i. pl.; Murray, Avif. Brit. Ind. ii. p. 535, No. 1195. :-

The Simla Horned Pheasant or the Western Tragopan.

Head black, crest tipped with red; nape, the back and sides of neck dark red ; back and upper parts dark brown, minutely barred irregularly with black, each feather with a round white spot on a black ground; shoulder of wing dark red; quills blackish, mottled and barred with brown; some of the wing coverts with dusky olive spots; tertiaries mottled like the back and like the scapulars have a large white spot; upper tail coverts lengthened, the lateral furthers with a large fulvous tip edged with dull Mack and white spotted; tail black unspotted towards the tip, but barred, with white, brown for the greater part of its length; beneath, the throat and neck below the wattle vivid scarlet, passing into flame colour and yellow on the lower part of the neck; breast and lower parts black, dashed with dull red, and each feather with a round white spot; thigh coverts mottled black and brown, pater and yellowish near the joint Bill blackish; irides. hazel brown; orbits bright red; fleshy horns pale blue; gular wattles purple in the middle, spotted and edged with pale blue and fleshy on the sides; legs and feet fleshy.

Length. :- 27 to 29 inches; wing 11.25; tail 10.5 to 11; tarsus 3.

The female has the head and all the upper parts mottled with dark and light brown and blackish with small pointed streaks of pale yellow ; quills and tail dark brown, minutely mottled and barred; under surface light ashy brown, powdered with blackish and marked with irregular spots of white; fleshy horns and wattles absent.

Hab. :- Western borders of Nepaul to the extreme N.-W. Himalayas. It is found about Simla and Mussoorie, but more abundant near Almora. It is not a very rare species, and is very easily reared in captivity, as well as easy to shoot. They feed chiefly on berries, but insects also form part of their food. They begin to pair in April. Eggs have been obtained in May at from 8,000 to 11,000 feet elevation. They are, according to Hume, elongated ovals considerably compressed towards the small end, and about the slee of the egg of the Monaul. The shell is devoid of gloss, and vary in colour from a pale cafe au lait to a dull reddish buff. Size from 2.4 to 2.55 by 1.68 to 1.72.

Ceriornis Blythi, Jerd., J. A. S. Beng., 1870, p. 60; Gould, B. Asia vii. pl. 47, is another species of which much is not known. It is said to occur in the Naga and Assam hills: the forecrown and occiput is black; lores, orbital region, cheeks, chin, throat and nude parts adjoining golden yellow; back of the head, neck all round and breast bright brick red or lake; a black post orbital and gular band ; upper surface of the body rich maroon red, with white ocelli on a black ground at the tip of each feather; flanks more yellowish ; belly grey; tail dark brown.

Gould, Cent. Him. B. pls. 63, 64, 65; Jerd., B. Ind. iii. p. 517, No. 806; Hume and Marsh., Game Birds i. p. 143. Phasianus nipalensis (Gray, the female), Hardw., III. Ind. Zool. i. pls. 46, 47, 48 and 2 pl. 40; Elliot, Mon. Phas. i. pl. -

The Simla Horned Pheasant or the Western Tragopan.

Head black, crest tipped with red; nape, the back and sides of neck dark red ; back and upper parts dark brown, minutely barred irregularly with black, each feather with a round white spot on a black ground : shoulder of wing dark red ; quills blackish, mottled and barred with brown ;. some of the wing coverts with dusky olive spots ; tertiaries mottled like the back and with the scapulars have a large white spot; upper tail coverts lengthened, the lateral feathers with a large fulvous tip edged with dull black and white spotted ; tail black, unspotted towards the tip, but barred with white, brown for the greater part of its length ; beneath, the throat and neck below the wattle vivid scarlet, passing into flame colour and yellow on the lower part of the neck; breast and lower parts black, dashed with dull red, and each feather with a round white spot; thigh coverts mottled black and brown, paler and yellowish near the joint. Bill blackish ; irides hazel brown; orbits bright red; fleshy horns pale blue; gular wattles purple in the middle, spotted and edged with pale blue and fleshy on the sides ; legs and feet fleshy.

Length. - 27 to 29 inches ; wing 11.25 ; tail 10.5 to 11; tarsus 3.

The female has the head and all the upper parts mottled with dark and light brown and blackish with small pointed streaks of pale yellow ; quills and tail dark brown, minutely mottled and barred ; under surface light ashy brown, powdered with blackish and marked with irregular spots of white; fleshy horns and wattles absent.

Hab. - Western borders of Nepaul to the extreme N.W. Himalayas. It is found about Simla and Mussoorie, but more abundant near Almora. It is not a very rare species, and is very easily reared in captivity, as well as easy to shoot. They feed chiefly on berries, but insects also form part of their food. They begin to pair in April. Eggs have been obtained in May at from 8,000 to 11,000 feet elevation. They are, according to Hume, elongated ovals considerably compressed towards the small end, and about the size of the egg of the Monaul. The shell is devoid of gloss, and vary in colour from a pale cafe au lait to a dull reddish buff, Size from 2.4 to 2.55 by 1.68 to 1.72.

Ceriornis Blythi, Jerd., J. A. S. Beng., 1870, p. 60; Gould, B. Asia vii. pl. 47. This is another species of which much is not known. It is said to occur in the Naga and Assam hills : the forecrown and occiput is black; lores, orbital region, cheeks, chin, throat and nude parts adjoining golden yellow; back of the head, neck all round and breast bright brick red or lake ; a black post orbital and gular band ; upper surface of the body rich maroon red, with white ocelli on a black ground at the tip of each feather ; flanks more yellowish ; belly grey ; tail dark brown.

The Western Horned Pheasant.

Phasianus melanocephalus, Gray, Griffith's An. Kingd., Aves, iii, p. 29 (1829). Ceriornis melanocphala, Blyth, Cat. p. 240; Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 493; 1859 p. 185; Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 517 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, p. 67; Hume, N. & E. p. 522; Hume & Marsh Game B. i, p. 143, pl.; Hume, Cat. no. 806; C. H. T. Marshall, Ibis, 1884, p. 422: Oates in Hume's N. & E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 410. Tragopan melanocephalus, Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. M. xxii, p. 273.

The Simla Horned Pheasant, Jerdon; Jewar, Jowar, Garhwal; Jaghi Jajhi, Bashahr; Sing-monal, H. (N. W. Himalaya?); Jigurana , Bodal, Kulu, Mandi, Suket; Falgur, Chamba ; Argus of European sportsmen.
 

Coloration. Male. Head black ; occipital crest-feathers longer than in T. satyra, some of them tipped red; no red streaks on the sides of the occiput; nape and neck all round red, deep Indian red behind, brighter, almost scarlet in front; upper parts from the neck black, vermiculated with whitish buff and dotted over with white ocelli; upper tail-coverts each with a black tip and a large subterminal white spot that passes into a brown patch on each side; bend of wing Indian red: quills black, with buff vermiculations and irregular bars; tail the same, the buff markings disappearing towards the end ; lower surface from neck black with round white spots, larger behind, basal portion of feathers deep red on breast and upper abdomen, mottled black and buff on lower abdomen and flanks.

Females differ from those of T. satyra in being much greyer in colour, and in the pale elongate shaft-spots of the lower surface being white instead of buff, and well-defined with dark brown borders.

In the male, bill blackish, irides hazel-brown, naked orbits bright red, horns pale blue ; the gular wattle purple in the middle, spotted and edged with pale blue and fleshy on the sides ; legs and feet fleshy (Wilson). In the female, the legs and feet are greyish ashy (Hume). The horns and lappets shrivel up and almost disappear in winter.

Length of male about 28 ; tail 105 ; wing 11 ; tarsus 3.1 ; bill from gape 1.5. Length of female about 24 ; tail 8 ; wing 9.5.

Distribution. The North-western Himalayas from Garhwal to Hazara. The Eastern limit, according to Hume, is between the Kattor and Billing Rivers in Native Garhwal, the Western is east of the Indus.

Habits, &c. These have been admirably described at length by Wilson (" Mountaineer "), whose notes are quoted by Jerdon and Hume. They are very similar to those of T. satyra. This Horned Pheasant is a forest bird, feeding chiefly on leaves of trees and bamboos : it keeps at elevations near the snow in summer, descending lower in winter, and has a bleating call, which, however, is very rarely uttered except in the breeding-season. Six eggs were found in a rough nest of grass and sticks on May 25th, by Capt. Lautour, when shooting in Hazara; the eggs were pale buff, finely and minutely freckled, and averaged 2.51 by 1.7.

Tragopan melanocephalus, (Gray).

 

MALE :—Lower plumage black with round white spots.

FEMALE :—Lower plumage with round or oval white spots, each more or less edged with black ; the inner webs of the quills of the wing nearly plain.

Vernacular Names :—Jowar, Garhwal; Jaghi, Jajhi, Busahir; Sing-monal, N.W. Himalayas ; Fulgoor, Chamba ; Jigurana, Jeejurana, male, Bodal, female. Kulu, Mandi, etc.

The Western Horned Pheasant is found in the Himalayas from Garhwal to Kashmir, and according to Mr. Hume even to Hazara; but the series of skins in the Hume Collection is defective in specimens from the extreme north-west, and we cannot trace the limits of this species in Kashmir and beyond. This Pheasant does not anywhere meet the Crimson Horned Pheasant, the range of the two species being, according to Mr, Hume, separated by a distance which he refers to as a four days' march.

" Mountaineer," as quoted by Dr. Jerdon, gives an interesting account of the habits of this species. He "says :—" Its usual haunts are high up, not far from the snows, in dense and gloomy forests, either alone or in small scattered parties. In winter they descend the hills, and then their favourite haunts are in the thickest parts of the forest of Oak, Chestnut, and Morenda Pine, where the Box-tree is abundant, and where under the forest trees a luxuriant growth of ' Ringall' or the hill Bamboo forms an underwood in some places almost impenetrable. They keep in companies of from two or three to ten or a dozen or more, not in compact flocks, but scattered widely over a considerable space of forest, so that many at times get quite separated, and are found alone. If undisturbed, however, they generally remain pretty close together, and appear to return year after year to the same spot, even though the ground be covered with snow, for they find their living then on the trees. If driven away from the forest by an unusually severe storm, or any other cause, they may be found at this season in small clumps of wood, wooded ravines, patches of low brushwood, etc.

"At this season, except its note of alarm when disturbed, the Jewar is altogether mute, and is never heard of its own accord to utter a note or call of any kind; unlike the rest of our Pheasants, all of which occasionally crow or call at all seasons. When alarmed, it utters a succession of wailing cries, not unlike those of a young lamb or kid, like the syllables " Waa, waa, waa'' each syllable uttered slowly and distinctly at first, and more rapidly as the bird is hard pressed or about to take wing. Where not repeatedly disturbed, it is not particularly shy, and seldom takes alarm till a person is in its immediate vicinity, when it creeps slowly through the underwood, or flies up into a tree; in the former case continuing its call till again stationary, and in the latter till it has concealed itself in the branches. If several are together, all begin to call at once, and run off in different directions, some mounting into the trees, others running along the ground. . . . Their flight is rapid, the whir peculiar, and even when the bird is not seen, may be distinguished by the sound from that of any other. . . . Early in April they begin to pair, and the males are then more generally met with than at any other period; they seem to wander about a great deal, are almost always found alone, and often call at intervals all day long. When thus calling, the bird is generally perched on the thick branch of a tree, or the trunk of one that has fallen to the ground, or on a large stone. The cry is similar to the one they utter when disturbed, but is much louder, and only one single note at a time, a loud energetic " waa" not unlike the bleating of a lost goat, and can be heard for upwards of a mile. It is uttered at various intervals, sometimes every five or ten minutes for hours together, and sometimes not more than two or three times during the day, and most probably to invite the females to the spot."

As noted in the second edition of the "Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds," Mr. Hume received six eggs of this species from Captain Unwin, who found them in May in the Hazara country. The nest was roughly formed of grass, small sticks and a few feathers. Four of these eggs are now in the British Museum. They are elongated ovals without any gloss. The ground-colour is reddish buff, and they are thickly and minutely freckled with reddish brown. The six eggs as measured by Mr. Hume varied in length from 2.4 to 2.55, and in breadth from 1.68 to 1.72. They are quite unlike the egg of the Crimson Horned Pheasant already referred to, but very similar to the eggs of the Grey-bellied, and Temminck's, Horned Pheasants as described below.

The male has the whole head and crest black, the latter tipped with crimson. The whole neck is rich crimson and the chest fiery red, the feathers of the latter part much pointed and harsh to the touch. The general aspect of the upper plumage is buff, barred and mottled with black and olive-brown, and each feather with a white spot surrounded by black. The tail is black barred with buff except at the tips of the feathers. The quills of the wings are barred with buff on both webs. The general aspect of the lower plumage is black, each feather with a large round white spot.

The female is of a general greyish brown colour mottled and barred with black and pale buff. The hindneck is generally suffused with rufous. The lower plumage is paler, and each feather has, near the tip, a round or oval white spot surrounded, or nearly so, by a black border. The quills of the wing are mottled with pale buff on the outer web, but the inner web is almost plain brown, there being only a few buff marks on the edge farthest from the shaft.

Length of male about 27 ; wing about 10 1/2; tail about 10 1/2. The sides of the head are red; the horns blue, and the gular flap purple in the middle, spotted and edged with pale blue and fleshy on the sides. Length of female about 23 ; wing about 9 1/2; tail about 9. In both sexes the legs are greyish or flesh-colour and the irides brown. The weight is up to 4 1/2 lb.

The Western Horned Pheasant.

=black ; = a head.


Jewar, Garhwal; Jaghi, Bussahir; Sing-moonal, N. W. Himalaya; Fulgoor, Chamba; Jigurana, Kulu.

Male 27" to 29" ; 4 1/2 lbs. Female 24"; 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 lbs. Legs ashy. Bill black. Orbits bright red.— Male: Gular wattle purple, spotted and edged pale blue. Horns sky-blue. Crest black, tipped red. Sides of head naked. Above brown, irregularly barred and spotted white on black. Breast and below black, dashed dull red, with white spot. Tail black, barred buff except at tips.— Female: Above mottled grey and brown, the feathers edged brown with white shafts. Below ashy brown, with shafts more broadly marked, thus forming a series of white splashes in regular lines from throat to under-tail.— Young: Second year head and neck red. W. Himalayas to Kashmir. Six eggs (2.51 x 1.7), pale buff, finely freckled. (J. 806. B. 1345. O. 51. O.G. i. 224. H. & M. i. 143.) See illustration, p. 86.

Tragopan melanocephalus.

Jewar, Garhwal.

The " Simla argus," as this tragopan is sometimes called, the crimson bird being the " Sikkim argus"—both wrongly, for as I said before, they are not at all like argus pheasants—is sufficiently like its Eastern relative to be recognized as a close kins­ man at once ; there are the same white spots, the same general size and form, and the same red on the neck and pinions, while the ground-colour of the back is of a similar mottled brown. But the under-parts are very different, being nearly all black in ground-colour, thus enhancing the guinea-fowl effect, while the face is quite bare and bright-red, although the bib is said to show both red and blue, and is probably similar, when fully expanded, to that of the better-known species.

The hen is more of a true pepper-and-salt grizzle, with less rufous in the tint, and on the under-parts is distinctly spotted with white ; her hues are altogether colder than those of the crimson bird's female, as one would expect from the sparseness of the red colouring in her mate, which would really be better called the black tragopan, from his dominant colour.

The young cock, as in the other species, first shows his. colour on the neck ; he is said not to come into full colour till the third year. This species runs a little larger than the crimson bird; it is found from the ridge between the Kaltor and Billing rivers in native Garhwal, on the east, all along the hills as far as Hazara, being known in the north-west as Sing-monal. As the crimson tragopan is also called Monal in Nepal, it seems that natives group the great pheasant-partridges, as one may call these birds, and the true monals together. In Kullu, Mandi, and Suket there are different names for the sexes, the cock being Jigurana and the hen Budal; the Chamba name is Falgur, and that used in Bashahr is Jaghi.

Unlike so many representative species, the two tragopans do not range up to each others' boundaries, for, says Hume, from the ridge in Garhwal above-mentioned, " for some four days' march you meet with neither species. In this interval there are three high ranges to cross that divide the Bhilling Rand Valley from that of the Bangar Rand, this latter from the Mandagni Valley, and this latter again from that of the Alaknanda." How it is the birds have left this considerable bit of neutral ground untenanted appears never to have been explained, and the problem would, be well worth solving.

Like the crimson tragopan this species is essentially a wood-lander;. it feeds chiefly on leaves, especially of box, oak, ringal, and a privet-like shrub; it also likes berries, especially that of the Dekha of Kullu, and takes insects, acorns, and grubs as well, while in captivity it eats grain. Though shifting its ground more or less according to season, and ascending in the spring to near the forest limit, it often remains in forests with plenty of snow on the ground, being able to find its food in the trees. It is a shy bird, avoiding human habitations, and seldom seen even by natives, while, though it becomes tame very quickly in captivity, it seems rarely to be exported, so that its intimate habits and display are apparently unknown. The wild alarm note is a repeated bleat like a lamb's or kid's, and the spring call is a loud version of the same ; no doubt there are really two notes as in the crimson tragopan. Where not disturbed, these birds may be seen at times feeding in open patches in the forests along with monal, and are easily shot when treed by dogs ; but persecution makes them very wary, and at the best of times a pot-shot on the ground or in a tree is all that can be got. They hide themselves with great skill, and when " treed " watch the sportsman and shoot off as soon as discovered before proper aim can be taken. They generally keep in straggling parties, and are often, found alone.

The eggs have rarely been taken, owing probably to the­ assumption that birds of this kind must be ground-breeders. Those that have been taken are dull freckled buff; six were in the clutch, and May was the month in which they were taken, at the western limit of the bird's range in Hazara. They were on the ground, in a spot where a landslip had carried away a bit of pine-forest, covered with small second growth of bushes and shrubs ; the nest was a rough structure of grass and sticks. No doubt if old pigeons' and squirrels' nests are investigated in this tragopan's haunts, the eggs will be more easily found.

The Western Horned Pheasant.

Phasianus melanocephalus Gray, in Griff, ed. Cuv., iii, p. 29 (1829) (Almorah). Tragopan melanocephalus. Blanf. & Oates, iv, p. 100.

Vernacular names. Jowar (Garhwali) ; Jaghi, Jatjhi (Basahir); Sing-Monal (N. W. Him.); Jigurana, Bodal (Kulu, Mandi, Suket); Falgar (Chamba).

Description. - Adult male. Head, except bare skin of face and throat, black, the longer crest-feathers tipped crimson ; neck all round below the black crimson-red ; remainder of upper parts greyish-ochre vermiculated with black bars and with white, black-edged ocelli; interscapulars often strongly tinged with rufous, looking darker and richer than elsewhere; longest upper tail-coverts with black tips and large white central patches edged with rufous ; tail mottled black and ochre with broad black terminal bars ; shoulder of wing crimson-red ; wing-coverts like the back but with larger ocelli and more ochre mottling; innermost secondaries mottled ochre and black with terminal heart-shaped white ocelli surrounded with olive-rufous and black and a few olive-rufous almond-shaped spots surrounded with black only; bristly feathers of fore-neck and upper breast a gorgeous orange flame-colour; remaining lower plumage black with bold white ocelli; the bases of the feathers are red and show up everywhere; flanks, vent and under tail-coverts more or less mottled with ochre and brown; under wing-coverts mottled brown and ochre and marked with crimson ; axillaries deep brown.

Colours of soft parts. Iris brown; bill black or blackish-brown ; orbital skin bright red; horns bright pale blue, sometimes tinged with green; lappet bright fleshy-pink, a deep purple line down the centre and triangular patches of blue with their bases joining on the centre line; on the lower part of the cheeks there are bluish-green caruncles; legs and feet fleshy-grey or fleshy-red with a tinge of purple-,, deeper and redder in the breeding-season.

Measurements. Wing 257 to 290 mm.; tail 221 to 247 mm.; tarsus 78 to 97 mm.; culmen 17 to 20 mm.

Weights of freshly-killed birds from Kashmir 4 to 4 3/4 lb.

Female. Above pale grey, profusely vermiculated with black and with black patches on the scapulars and inner secondaries and, to a less extent, on the back; the feathers of these parts have also here and there white central streaks or arrowhead marks; on the head and neck the tint is rather more rufous with the centre of the crown blackish, the feathers white-centred; tail vermiculated black and grey with a broad subterminal band of black on all but the central tail-feathers; below finely vermiculated grey and dark brown, the feathers of the chin, throat and sides of the head with pale fulvous centres and those of the breast and abdomen with spatulate white centres edged with black.

In the female of T. melanocephalus the whole appearance is that of a grey bird instead of rufous-brown as in T. satyra.

Measurements. Wing 225 to 250 mm.

Young males are like the females but the marks below are rounded and less spatulate in shape.

Distribution. Prom the West bank of the Bhagirathi River in Garhwal to Hazara and Kashmir.

Nidification. Lautour took a clutch of four eggs of this bird from a rough stick-nest built on the ground in Pine-forest between 8,000 and 11,000 feet in a place where there had been a land-slip. Whymper also found a "respectable loose stick-nest with a little grass lining " at about 11,000 feet in Ringal jungle in Garhwal, the eggs of which had been destroyed by vermin. This nest also was on the ground, yet the natives assert that normally the Tragopan is a tree-builder and certainly birds in captivity prefer to nest, if given the choice, in boxes placed well up in trees or on shelves rather than in those on the ground. The eggs are typical of the genus but average decidedly paler and duller than those of T. satyra. The few, including those laid in captivity, which I have been able to measure average 62.2 x 42.0 mm. and vary very little in size or shape.

Habits. Those of the genus. They appear to consort in small family-parties except during the actual breeding-season and it is by no means a rare bird still in many parts of Kashmir and Garhwal, though its secretive habits make it appear to be so. It comes comparatively low down in Winter and Donald has shot it at 4,000 feet. He says that it is one of the best of game-birds for the table.

Phasianus melanocephalus Griffith & Pidgeon in Cuvier's Anim. Kingd., Birds, vol. iii, p. 29,. Aug. 15, 1829, ex Gray MS.: Almorah, India.

Phasianus nepaulensis id., ibid.

(Phasianus castaneus id., ibid., p. 28, has priority, but does not appear to apply to this species.)

Tragopan hastingsii Vigors, P. Z. S., 1830-31, p. 8, Jan. 6, 1831: Himalayas ; Gould, Century of Birds, pls. 63, 64, 65, 1831.