LOPHOPHORUS IMPEY V U
LOPHOPHORUS IMPEYANUS.
MONAUL.
PHASIANUS IMPEYANUS, Lath. In jlO m ith . vol. ii., p. 632.—Id. Syn. pL 114.
P . . RECURV1ROSTRIS, Shaw, Mus. Lev.
LOPHOPHORUS REFULGENS, Tem. Pig. & Gall. t. iii. p. 673— Id- Plan. Còl. 607, 613.
IMPEYANUS REFULGENS, Less. Trait. d^Orn. (1831) p. 488, AtL pi. 85.
MONACHUS IMPEYANUS, Vieill. Gal. Ois'. pli 2l'8.'—Id. Ency. Method, pi. 88. fig. 1.
LOPHOPHORUS IMPEYANUSj-Gray, List B. Brit. Mus.' (1844) p. 30.—Gould,'Cent. Birds Him. t. 60, 61.—Id. B. of Asia. pi. 2.—Blyth,
Cat. B. Mus. Àsiat. Soc. Bèng. (184 9),ip. 260, no. 1477.—Sclat. Proc. Zool. Sòci (1Ò63) p . 115, sp. 1.—Adams, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1858)
p. 590 (1859) p. 185.—Irby, Ibis (1(861);, p. 235.—Beavan, Ibis (1868)j p. 379.—Bon. Comp. Rend. (1856) p. 879.—Sclat. Proc. Zool. Soc.
S Ì |p i8 5 9 ) fp |o 5 $ £ i« r
Hab. Himalaya mountains from the borders o f Afghanistan to Sikim, probably also to Bootan ( J erdon).
A l th o u g h at the present day we are acquainted with three species of the genus Lophophorus, still the one now under consideration,
in my. opinion, is fairly entitled to carry off the palm for beauty, as it exceeds the others in the richness and brilliancy of its
phimage, even though they are themselves birds of great attractiveness. The Monaul is an inhabitant o f the more lofty portions of
the Himalayas, and, according to Jerdon,>is not found in Sikim (at. a lower elevation than 10,000 feet), and is rather common in. the
localities it frequents. Good accounts of the habits and economy of birds aré unfortunately rarely met with, partly from the difficulty
in obtaining suitable, opportunities for observing them in their native haunts, and partly from the lack of ability to write attractive
narrativés, in those who may perhaps have been so fortunate as to meet with them in the countries they inhabit.
Among those, however, who have been most happy in relating the habits of those species which they were accustomed to see in
their native homes, none have given us more agreeable histories than “ Mountaineer;” and the following, which was published in the
* Bengal Sporting Review,’ is a very entertaining account o f the mode of life o f the present species. This writer says that “ the
Monaul is found on almost every full of.any elevation, from the first great ridge above the limits of the wooded district; and in the
interior it is the most numerous o f the game birds. When the hills near Mussoree were first visited by Europeans it was found to
be common th e re ; and a few may still be seen on th é same ridge eastward from Landour. In summer, when the rank vegetation
which springs up in the forest renders it 'impossible to see many yards around, few : are to be met with, except near the summits
of the greát ridges jutting from the snow, where in: the morning and evening, when they come out to feed, they may be seen in
the open glades of the forest and on the green slopes’ above. At that time no one would imagine ’they were half so numerous
as they really are ; but as the cold season approaches, and the rank grass and herbage decay, they begin to collect together, the
wood seems full; o f them, and in .some places hundreds may be put up in a day’s work. In summer, the greater number of the
males and some of the females ascend to near the limits of the forests, where the hills attain a great elevation, and may often be
seen on the grassy slopes a considerable distance above. In autumn they resort to those parts o f the forests where the ground
is thickly covered with decayed leaves, under which they search for grubs, and descend lower and lower as winter sets in, and the
ground becomes frozen or covered with snow. I f the season be severe, and the ground covered to a great depth, they collect in
the woods which face to the south or east, where it soon melts in the more exposed parts, or descend much lower down the hill,
where it is not so deep, and thaws sufficiently to allow them to lay bare the earth and the bushes and sheltered places. Many,
particularly females and young birds, resort to the neighbourhood of the villages situated up in the woods, and may often be seen
in numbers in the« fields. Still in the severest weather, when fall after fall has covered the ground to a great depth in the
higher forests, many remain there the whole winter; these are almost pjjl| males and-probably old b ird s.* ^ In spring, all in the
lower parts gradually ascend as the snow disappears.
“ In the autumnal and: winter months, numbers are generally collected together in the same quarter of the forest, though often
so' widely scattered that :each bird appears to be alone. Sometimes you may walk for a mile through a wood without seeing one,
and suddenly come to some part where, within the compass o f a few hundred yards, upwards o f a score will get up in succession ;
a t another time, or in another forest, they will be found dispersed over every part, one getting up here, another there, two or
three^further on, and so on for miles. The females keep more together than the males ; they also descend lower down the hills,
and earlier and more generally leave the sheltered woods for exposed parts or the vicinity of the villages on the approach of
winter. Both sexes are often found separately in considerable • numbers. On the lower part or exposed side o f the hill, scores
o f females and young birds may be met with, without a single old male ; while higher up, or on the sheltered side, none but
males may be found. In summer they are more separated, but dp not keep in individual pairs, several being often found together.