The MONAUL, or IMPEYAN PHEASANT (_Lophophorus resplendens_, _refulgens_,
or _Impeyanus_), possesses a comparatively powerful body, moderate-sized
wings, and a rather long tail, composed of sixteen feathers. The upper
mandible is curved and sharply pointed at its tip; the foot is of medium
height, that of the male furnished with a spur. The plumage of the male
is magnificently coloured and very glossy; the region of the eye is bare,
and his head decorated with a crest formed of numerous feathers; these are
denuded of web at the roots and very broad at the extremities. The head
and throat of this beautiful bird are of a metallic green, the crest is
also of that hue, but resplendent with a golden sheen; the nape and upper
part of the throat are of such a glossy purple or carmine-red that they
gleam with all the brilliancy of the ruby; the lower parts of the throat
and back are bronze-green, shaded with gold; the rest of the mantle, the
wing and upper tail-covers are brilliant violet or blueish green; some
few feathers on the under side are white, but its surface is principally
black, shining with green and purple on the centre of the breast, and
lustreless on the belly; the quills are black, the tail reddish brown; the
eye is brown, the bare place that surrounds it blueish; the beak is dark
grey, and the foot greyish green. The length is twenty-six and the breadth
thirty-three inches; the wing measures from eleven to eleven and a half
inches, and the tail eight inches and a quarter. The female is white upon
the throat, the rest of her plumage being pale yellowish brown, spotted,
striped, and marked with dark brown. The primary quills are blackish, the
secondaries and tail-feathers striped black and brownish yellow. The size
of the female is inferior to that of her mate.
We have from the pen of "Mountaineer" a full account of the life of the
Monaul, but we cannot help regretting that such an excellent observer
should look upon this magnificent species with the eye of a sportsman
rather than with that of a naturalist. "The Monaul is found on almost
every hill of any elevation, from the first great ridge of the Himalayas
above the plains to the limits of the wooded district, and in the interior
it is the most numerous of the game-birds. When the hills near Mussooree
were first visited by Europeans it was found to be common there, and
a few may be still seen on the same ridge eastwards 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 great ridges jutting from the snow, where in the
morning and evening, when they come out to feed, they may be seen in the
green glades of the forest and on the green slopes above. At that time no
one would imagine they are 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 of them, and in some places
hundreds may be put up in a day's work. In summer the greater number of
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 observed on
the grassy slopes a considerable distance above. In autumn they resort
to those parts of the forest where the ground is thickly-covered with
decayed leaves, and descend lower and lower as winter sets in, and the
ground becomes frozen or covered with snow. If the season be severe, and
the ground covered to a great depth, they collect in the woods which
face south or east, where the snow 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 under 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, many remain in
the higher forests during the whole winter; these are almost all males,
and probably old birds. 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 the wood without seeing one, and suddenly come to some part
where, within the compass of a few hundred yards, upwards of a score will
get up in succession: at another time, or in another forest, they will be
found dispersed over every part--one getting up here, another there, two
or three farther 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 found
separately in considerable numbers. On the lower part or exposed side of
the hill, scores of females and young birds may be met without a single
old male; while higher up, or on the sheltered side, none but males are to
be found. In summer they are more separated, but do not keep strictly in
pairs, several being often found together. It may be questioned whether
they do pair or not in places where they are at all numerous; if they do,
it would appear that the union is dissolved as soon as the female begins
to brood, for the male seems to pay no attention whatever to her whilst
sitting, or to the young when hatched, and is seldom found with them.
"From April to the commencement of the cold season, the Monaul is rather
wild and shy, but this soon gives way to the all-taming influence of
winter's frosts and snows; and from October it becomes gradually less so,
till it may be said to be quite tame, but as it is often found in places
nearly free from underwood, and never attempts to escape observation by
concealing itself in the grass or bushes, it is perhaps sooner alarmed
and at a greater distance than other Pheasants, and may therefore appear
at times a little wild and timid. In spring it often rises a long way in
front, and it is difficult to get near it when it again alights, if it
does not at once fly too far to follow; but in winter it may often be
approached within gunshot on the ground, and when flushed it generally
alights on a tree at no great distance, and you may then walk quite close
to it before it again takes wing.
"In the forest, when alarmed, it generally rises at once without calling
or running far on the ground; but on the open glades, or grassy slopes,
or any place where it comes only to feed, it will, if not hard pressed,
run or walk slowly, in preference to getting up; and a distant bird, when
alarmed by the rising of others, will occasionally begin and continue
calling for some time while on the ground. It gets up with a loud
fluttering and a rapid succession of shrill whistles, often continued
till it alights, when it occasionally commences its ordinary loud and
plaintive call, and continues it for some time. In winter, when one or
two birds have been flushed, all within hearing soon become alarmed: if
they are collected together, they get up in rapid succession; if distantly
scattered, bird after bird slowly rises--the shrill call of each alarming
others still farther off till all in the immediate neighbourhood have
taken wing. When repeatedly disturbed by the sportsmen or _shikaries_,
they often take a longer flight.
"In spring, when the snow has melted in every part of the forest, and they
have little difficulty in procuring food, they appear careless about being
driven from any particular spot, and often fly a long way; but in winter,
when a sufficiency of food is not so easily obtained, they seem more
intent on satisfying their hunger, and do not heed so much the appearance
of man. The females seem at all times much tamer than the males. The
latter have one peculiarity, not common in birds of this order; if intent
on making a long flight, an old male, after flying a short way, will often
cease flapping his wings, and soar along with a trembling, vibratory
motion at a considerable height in the air. At such times, particularly
if the sun be shining on his brilliant plumage, he appears to great
advantage, and certainly looks one of the most magnificent of the Pheasant
tribe."
The call of the Monauls is a loud, plaintive whistle, which is often
heard in the forest at daybreak or towards evening, and occasionally at
all hours of the day. In severe weather, numbers may be heard calling in
different quarters of the wood before they retire to roost. The call has
rather a melancholy sound, or it may be that as the shades of a dreary
winter's evening begin to close on the snow-covered hills around, the
cold and cheerless aspect of nature with which it seems in unison make it
appear so. In autumn the Monaul feeds chiefly on a grub or maggot which it
finds under decayed leaves; at other times it subsists on roots, leaves,
and the young shoots of various shrubs and grasses, or when obtainable, on
acorns and other seeds and berries. In winter it often feeds in the wheat
and barley fields, but does not touch the grain; roots and maggots seem
to be its only inducement for digging amongst it. At all times and in all
seasons it is very assiduous in the operation of digging, and continues
at it for hours together. In the higher forests, where large open plots
occur quite free from trees or underwood, early in the morning or towards
evening these localities may often be seen dotted over with Monauls all
busily engaged at their favourite occupation.
The Monaul roosts in the larger trees, but in summer, when near or above
the limits of the forest, will often sleep on the ground in some steep
rocky spot. The female makes her nest under a small overhanging bush or
tuft of grass, and lays five eggs of a dull white, speckled with reddish
brown; the chicks are hatched about the end of May. By some persons,
according to "Mountaineer," the flesh of the Monaul is thought equal to
that of the Turkey, while others think it scarcely eatable. In autumn
and early winter the females and young birds afford excellent food, but
from the commencement of spring they deteriorate in that respect. The same
writer tells us that in autumn, when the leaves have fallen from the trees
and an extensive view through the wood is allowed, he has frequently stood
till twenty or thirty have got up and perched on the branches, and then
he has walked up to the different trees and fired at them in succession
without disturbing any but those which were quite close to the spot. The
Monaul is easily kept in confinement, and in that condition has bred in
England; it appears quite capable of enduring the severity of our winter.