So far as ivc know, it never, in Tenasserim, wanders out of the
forests into the fields or other opener spaces to feed, as so many
other Pheasants and Jungle Fowls do.
Our Tenasserim specimens proved to have fed upon ants
and other insects, and on hard seeds.
As far as I can judge, the Tenasserim, Cachar, and Baxa
Duar birds all belong to the same species, but it is necessary to
note that Mr. Gray considered that there were three recognizable
forms, distinguishable primarily by the shape, size, and
colour of the ocelli or eye spots on the tail, back, and wings.
I can at present discover no differences of this kind in my
rather large series, that are not manifestly individual variations,
but it is not impossible that t h e Assamese, Upper Burmese, and
Siamese specimens may prove to differ somewhat.
I know so little of this bird that I have asked friends who
know more for some little information in regard to it, and writing
from North-cast Cachar, Mr. Inglis remarks :—
" Although anything but rare here, this bird is but seldom
seen, owing to its shy and retiring habits. It affects thick
jungle with an open bottom, and it is especially fond of hilly
lands where bamboos and young trees predominate.
" About the beginning of the year, the male begins to call
in the early morning and late in the afternoon ; perched on
t h e bough of a tree, or on the top of a stump, about eight or ten
feet from the ground, he emits his loud call-note about every
half minute. This call is often kept up for an hour or two at
a time, and can be heard on a quiet morning a very long way
off. Then is the time to stalk him, but it requires a large
amount of patience and perseverance to do it successfully, as
you have only the sound to guide you, and after approaching
within about one hundred yards of your game, it is unsafe to
proceed except during the calls ; thus you can only advance
a few yards per minute.
" The call is very deceiving. I have often imagined that I
was within shot of the bird, when it was really still a long
way off.
" When you get up to the bird, and are sharp sighted enough
to sec him before he sees you, the only plan is to take a regular
pot shot. Your chances are few indeed if you wait hoping
to take him on the wing, as he has a detestable habit of dropping
to the ground like a stone, and relying for escape on his
heels.
" I have never shot more than two in a morning, and even
then I thought myself in luck. To obtain a shot at all, entails
rather hard work, and from the slow manner in which you advance
you generally become only too well acquainted with all the
leeches and mosquitos in the neighbourhood.
" I have sometimes shot this Pheasant, as well as the Blackbreasted
Kalij, Red-legged Wood Partridge, and Common Jungle
T H E GREY P E A C O C K - P H E A S A N T. 107
Fowl, by hunting the forest with a couple of dogs (mongrels).
When any one of these birds is started, the dogs invariably give
chase, and soon 'tree' the fugitive. The dogs g-enerally continue
giving tongue, until one reaches the tree. This must seem a
very unsportsman-like way of shooting Pheasants, but any one
acquainted with Cachar jungles will allow that it is about the
only way to get a shot at any game birds, excepting Duck,
Snipe, and Quail.
" The Rookies snare numbers of the Polyplectrum on their
' j/ioows,' or cultivation clearings, inside the forests. The snare
consists generally of a sapling, or branch of a tree, bent towards
the ground ; one end of a piece of string is fastened to the sapling,
and on the other end is a noose ; the noose is spread round
a small hole in the e a r t h ; the trap itself is a simple contrivance
of a few split pieces of bamboo ; t h e bait is a small red berry of
which the bird is very fond ; the berry is firmly attached to the
trap, and the bird pecking at the berry releases the catch, the
sapling flies up, and the bird is noosed by the neck or feet, or
sometimes both. If the bird is to be taken alive, a very supple
sapling is chosen, so that the bird is not suspended, but if the
bird is to be eaten at once, a stiff sapling is selected, so that it
is lifted right off its legs and hung up high enough to be well
out of the reach of cats, jackals, and other vermin.
" Females are not so often snared as males. The hill people
call them ' Mohr,' or Peacock, and do not seem to know when
they breed or where. I have offered rewards for a nest, but
without success. I have not seen a bird between June and
November; perhaps they retire into quieter jungles when
breeding."
Mr. R. A. Clark, who was in the Mynadhar garden below
Tipai Mukh in Cachar, and has shot numbers of this species,
gives me the following information :—
" T h e Peacock-Pheasant is very common in North-
Eastern Cachar, where it is found in dense bamboo
jungle, on the sides of ravines, and on the tops of the
low ranges of hills wherever there are Jdmun trees, as
well as on the banks of the river ' Barak,' wherever it is well
wooded. On the rocky faces of the ' Barak' banks there is a
tree, which, during the rainy season, is partially submerged, but
in the cold weather bears a fruit with seeds like those of a
' chilli.' On these the birds feed greedily in the early morning
and towards sunset; insects and worms, with this fruit, form their
chief food, but I have on one occasion found small land shells
and pebbles in the stomach of an adult male.
" These birds may be heard in the early morning and at sunset
calling, and then the male is generally to be found perched on
some branch, only a few feet off the ground. The call is ha-haha
ha, something like a laugh, and can be heard from a good
distance ; the female's note I have never heard.