V
TBI i i a t M r a i f ! ! ULU.
Euplocamus horsfieldi, G. R. Gray.
Vernacular Names.—[Do-reds, Dibrugarh; DtinSg, Dhrik, Ciiro Hills •
Motoora (Kkasi), Sylket; Mathura, Chtttagong.]
p T M E exact western and eastern limits of this species
are still somewhat undefined. It is plentiful in
Cachar and around the bases of, and up to four
thousand feet elevation on, the Kbasi and Gilro Hills,
and thence eastwards in suitable localities right up
the Valley of Assam to beyond Sadiya, our easternmost
point, whence I have several specimens. It
has been met with in the low outer hills of Eastern Bhutan, and
further cast in the lower ranges of the Daphla Hills. It is
common in Sylhet and also in Hill Tipperah, whence I have
specimens, and again in Northern Chittagong, where Sanderson
found it plentiful in the Chcngree Valley. It very possibly is
also found in Southern Chittagong and the extreme north of
Aracan, but I cannot find satisfactory evidence of this.
I do not know of its occurrence in Mymensing or Dacca,
and I believe that, from Dhubri to the sea, the Brahmaputra
constitutes its western boundary.
T H E RANGE of this species is decidedly lower than that of
either of the other three ; it is common down in the low
country along the edges of cultivation and the banks of
rivers where there is forest, only a few hundred feet above sea
level, but it grows less plentiful, I am assured, as you ascend
the bills, and is very rarely shot at elevations exceeding 4,000
feet.
I have no personal knowledge of the species. Writing from
Dilkhusha in North-East Cachar, Mr. Inglis remarks: " These
Pheasants are pretty common in this neighbourhood. They
affect forest jungle with an open bottom, and are most often met
with along the banks of rivers, where they feed morning and
evening, retiring into cover during the beat of the day. They
only occasionally show themselves on the rice fields adjoining
cover. I have seen as many as eight together, although they are
more often observed in pairs or singly. Their food consists of
wild berries or fruits, beetles and other insects.
"They afford fair sport with dogs by hunting round the edges
of places they frequent. They rise with a loud whirr, emitting