The KELITSCH, or WHITE-CRESTED KALEEGE PHEASANT (_Gallophasis
albocristatus_), has the head, throat, mantle, and tail of a lustrous
blueish black; the rump-feathers are dull white, marked with pale black;
the crest is white; the long breast-feathers greyish white; and the
rest of the under side dark grey. The eye is brown, the bare cheek red,
the beak dark grey, and the foot blueish grey. The hen bird is scarcely
distinguishable from the female Kirrik.
Of the life and habits of these birds we know but little, except from the
writings of "Mountaineer," who has, however, observed and described them
with his usual exactness. "The well-known Kaleege," says he, "is most
abundant in the lower regions; it is common in the Dhoon at the foot of
the hills, in all the lower valleys, and everywhere to an elevation of
about 8,000 feet. From this it becomes scarcer, though a few are found
still higher. It appears to be more unsuspicious of man than the rest of
our Pheasants; it comes much closer to his habitations, and from being
so often found near the villages and roadsides, is regarded by all as
the most common, though in their respective districts the Monauls are
more numerous. In the lower regions it is found in every description of
forest from the foot to the summit of the hills, but is most partial to
low coppice and jungle, and wooded ravines or hollows. In the interior
it frequents the scattered jungle at the borders of the dense forest,
thickets near old deserted patches of cultivation, old cow-sheds and the
like, coppices near the villages and roads, and, in fact, forest and
jungle of every kind except the distant and remote woods, in which it is
seldom found. The presence of man, or some trace that he has once been a
dweller in the spot, seems as it were necessary to its existence.
"The Kaleege is not very gregarious; three or four are often found
together, and ten or twelve may sometimes be put out of one small coppice,
but they seem in a great measure independent of each other, much like
our English Pheasants. When disturbed, if feeding or on the move, they
generally run, and do not often get up unless surprised suddenly and
closely, or forced by dogs, or else they lie rather close in thick cover.
They are never very shy, and where not unceasingly annoyed by sportsmen
or _shikarees_ are as tame as could be wished. In walking up a ravine or
hill-side, if put up by dogs a little distance above, they will often
fly into the trees close above one's head, and two or three will allow
themselves to be quietly knocked over in succession. When flushed from
any place where they have sheltered, whether on the ground or aloft, they
fly off to some distant cover, and alight on the ground in preference to
the tree. Their call is a loud whistling chuckle or chirrup; it may be
occasionally heard from the midst of some thicket or coppice at any hour
of the day, but is not of frequent occurrence. It is generally uttered
when the bird rises, and if it flies into a neighbouring tree is often
continued for some time. When flushed by a cat or some small animal, this
chuckling is always loud and earnest.
"The Kaleege is very pugnacious, and the males have frequent battles. On
one occasion I had shot a male, which lay fluttering on the ground in its
death-struggles, when another rushed out of the jungle and attacked it
with the greatest fury, though I was standing reloading the gun close by.
The male often makes a singular drumming noise with its wings, not unlike
the sound produced by shaking a stiff piece of cloth. It is heard only in
the pairing season, but whether it is employed to attract the female, or
in defiance of his fellows, I cannot say, as I have never seen the birds
in the act, though often led to the spot where they were by the sound.
It feeds on roots, grubs, insects, seeds, and berries, and the leaves
and shoots of shrubs. It is rather difficult to rear in confinement when
caught old, and the few chicks I have tried have also soon died, though
possibly from want of attention. The Kaleege lays from nine to fourteen
eggs--very similar in size to those of the Domestic Hen. They are hatched
about the end of May."
[Illustration: THE KALEEGE, OR BLACK PHEASANT
(_Euplocamus-Gallophasis-melanotus_).]
Birds of this species resident in the Zoological Gardens in London have
repeatedly bred there.