1 1 ill Partridges (A. torqueold), four Chilcore (of which I knocked
three over on the ground with one shot as they scuttled away)
on a bare grassy spur, on which a few fields had been, and
lastly a Barking Deer.
With other Pheasants, except perhaps the Cheer, it has always
seemed to mc so much more a matter of chance ; with Koklass,
if your men have marked them one day, you will find them
next day, at the same hour (for they move up and down the
hill a great deal during the day), in precisely the same spot, if
they have not been previously molested. The birds, though they
separate in all directions, do not go far, and do not run much
after they alight.
And here I would remark that, unless you are a man of iron,
such as my old friend Wilson was, able to walk 40 or 50 miles up
and down without fatigue, and able to go up hill just as well
as clown hill, it is all nonsense going Pheasant-shooting in the
Himalayas without the necessary aids and in the proper
manner.
You must have good dogs (small cockers arc best), thoroughly
under control, who will work exactly to command, and obey
the whistle, and you must have a number of intelligent hill
men, something of sportsmen themselves, to search out the
shooting grounds, and when you are shooting, mark the birds
that get away from well-chosen posts. I used to have four
dogs and over a dozen men.
Lastly, you must go in for small game as your object, and not
humbug after big game. If a Kakur jumps up in the grass
before you, roll him over with shot. Have a rifle along with
you, and if in beating a gloomy ravine for Hill Partridges an
old Sarrow, or a precipitous "dang" or cliff for Cheer, a Gooral
or two break, do your best with them, and if when high up
after Moonal or Tragopan or Snow Cock, a Tahr or Burrel gives
a chance, by all means take it. But if you really want to make
bags of Pheasants and the like, you must make them your
object. Of course, too, you must get right away from hill stations
and avoid lines on which other people have been recently shooting,
but the hills are so vast and so very few men even to this
day go in in earnest for small game, or can get leave in the
latter part of October and November, which is the real time
for Pheasants, that this is easy.
I continually hear people abusing the shooting in the hills,
and declaring that it is impossible to get more than two or three
brace of birds in a day, but the fact simply is, that these sportsmen
have not yet learnt their trade. Go to suitable localities, in
the proper season, with good dogs and men, a n d i f y o u a r ea
fair walker and a fair shot, you may make as grand and varied
bags of Pheasants and Partridges of sorts, Woodcock, and solitary
Snipe in the Himalayas as in any place in the world where game
is not artificially protected; and all the while you will be
enjoying the finest climate, and will be surrounded by the most
magnificent scenery.
Wilson says of the Koklass :—
" This is another forest Pheasant common to the whole of the
wooded regions, from an elevation of about 4,000 fect to nearly
the extreme limits of forest, but is most abundant in the lower
and intermediate ranges. In the lower ranges its favourite
haunts are in wooded ravines ; but it is found on nearly all hill
sides which are covered with trees or bushes, from the summit
of the ridges to about half way down. Further in the interior
it is found scattered in all parts, from near the foot of the hills
to the top, or as far as the forest reaches, seeming most partial
to the deep sloping forests composed of oak, chestnut, and
morenda pine, with box, yew, and other trees intermingled, and a
thick underwood of ringal.
"The Koklass is of a rather retired and solitary disposition.
It is generally found singly or in pairs; and, except the
brood of young birds, which keep pretty well collected till near
the end of winter, they seldom congregate much together.
When numerous, several are often put up at no great distance
from each other, as if they were members of one lot; but when
more thinly scattered, it is seldom that more than two old birds
arc found together ; and at whatever season, w hen one is found,
its mate may, almost to a certainty, be found somewhere near.
This would lead one to imagine that many pairs do not separate
after the business of incubation is over, but keep paired for
several successive years.
" In forests where there is little grass or underwood, they
get up as soon as aware of the approach of any one near, or
run quickly along the ground to some distance; but where
there is much cover, they lie very close and will not get up till
forced by dogs or beaters. When put up by dogs they often
fly up into a tree close by, which they rarely do when flushed by
beaters or the sportsman himself, then flying a long way and
generally alighting on the ground. Their flight is rapid in the
extreme, and after a few whirrs, they sometimes shoot down
like lightning. They sometimes utter a few low chuckles before
getting up, and rise sometimes with a low screeching chatter,
and sometimes silently. The males often crow at daybreak,
and occasionally at all hours.
" In the remote forests of the interior, on the report of a gun,
all which are within half a mile or so, will often crow after
each report; they also often crow after a clap of thunder or
any loud and sudden noise ; this peculiarity seems to be confined
to those in dark shady woods in the interior, as I never
noticed it on the lower hills.
"The Koklass feeds principally on leaves and buds; it also
eats roots, grubs, acorns, seeds, and berries, moss and flowers.
It will not readily eat grain, and is more difficult to rear in