" The reason is, that all the well-defined sliolas which can be
thoroughly beaten are in the higher parts of the hills, where the
birds are comparatively rare, while, when you get lower down,
where the birds arc plentiful, the jungles are so large that they
cannot be effectively worked. If you merely want to kill the
birds, you might get perhaps ten or a dozen in a short time
poking along some of the roads, but they afford no sport thus,
only a scries of pot shots.
" I remember once watching an old cock that my dogs had
driven up into a tree, for some time I peered round and round
(the tree was a large and dcnsely-foliaged one) without being
able to discover his whereabouts, he all the while sitting silent
and motionless. At last my eyes fell upon him, that instant he
hopped silently on to another bough and from that to another,
and so on with incredible rapidity, till, reaching the opposite
side of the tree, he flew out silently, of course never giving me
a chance at a shot.
"As for food, they seem to eat almost anything; grain,
grass seed, grubs, small fruits and berries, and insects of different
kinds. I have sometimes killed them with nothing but
millet in their crops ; at other times quantities of grass seeds,
or again, after the grass has been recently burnt, the tender
juicy shoots of the new grass."
I must, however, note that all my correspondents are not so
convinced of the peaceful propensities of this species as is
Davison. Miss Cockburn says : " The pugnacity of these birds
is something incredible. On one occasion, when my brother was
out shooting, he heard in the jungle near him the peculiar undertoned
notes that the cocks emit when fighting. After a few
minutes the sound ceased, and on reaching the spot whence the
sounds had proceeded, he found two Jungle-Cocks dead, and one
of his dogs by them On examining the birds, both their heads
proved to bear the marks of the dog's teeth, which could only
be accounted for by the supposition that they were so busy
fighting that they failed to observe the dog's approach, and
were so closely pecking each other's heads that the dog seized
both heads at once ; for if she had seized only one, the other
bird would have been out of reach before she could have made
a second bite. You will admit that they only met with due
retribution for indulging in such a reprehensible amusement
as cock-fighting."
A brief note on the habits of this species as observed at Abu,
sent me many years ago by Dr. King, may be added. He says :
" T h e Grey Jungle-Fowl is not uncommon even now (186S) on
Abu, but it is evidently far less plentiful than it was some years
ago, if the accounts of Shikaris are true. It prefers low valleys
at the very base of the hill, but ascends as far as the plateaux
of Uriya and Jewai at the feet of the Gurusikhar (about 4,800
feet).
" Both sexes are very wary indeed, but the male is especially so.
The males are mostly solitary (I speak of the habits in the hot
weather and rains only), while the females keep in small groups
of from 3 to 6.
" In the hot weather this species keeps on the ground all day,
but rests on trees at night, whereas during the rains it is often
found in trees by day also.
" In the hot weather the male is particularly noisy in the mornings
and evenings, but in the rains he hardly crows at all at
any time.
" The crow of the male is a broken shrill ak-d-dk-khee given
forth very deliberately, and only at intervals, as the bird stalks
slowly along. When alarmed he gives out a rapid chick, exactly
like that of a domestic cock, calling as he runs. When much
alarmed he flies silently but rapidly and strongly.
" The female gives voice but rarely, but with great volubility
when she does so. Her voice is hoarse, and the call may be
represented by the syllables dk-a-dk-d-dk or ftk-d-uk-d-uk. It is
rapidly repeated."
Writing also from Abu, Captain Butler remarks:—
" The ' cordon' system of driving is usually adopted in
shooting them here. The guns are placed behind screens
made previously by the ' Shikaris' at the ends of patches of
jungle the birds are known to affect, and the beaters are sent
round to drive the birds up to them, forming a semi-circular line
to prevent the birds escaping at the sides. It is very poor sport,
you seldom or never get a flying shot, and when you do, the
jungle is so thick that it is about 10 to I you miss. The birds,
especially the old cocks, are remarkably wary, and the moment
they hear the beaters they begin to run, stopping about every
50 yards to listen.
" They have a very quick eye, and alter their course immediately
if they see or hear the slightest tiling in front. The only
way, therefore, when you know a bird is coming, is to raise your
gun silently to your shoulder, turn very quietly in the direction
from which it is coming, and remain perfectly motionless, and
as soon as ever the bird gets within shot, fire.
" I have shot them with dogs, but that is equally poor sport.
As soon as the Jungle-Fowl sees the dog, he flies up into a tree
and squats upon a bough until you dislodge him from his supposed
place of security with a charge of shot."
COMMON AS THIS species is over such a vast tract of country,
more exact information in regard to its nidification is still a
desideratum. Two eggs were taken in May when I was at
Abii, but as to the breeding season and other particulars I must
let my correspondents speak.
Writing from Kotagiri in the Nflgiris, Miss Cockburn
remarks : " The hen forms her nest in woods on the ground,