Cassell's book of birds; vol. 3Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Science
Cassell's book of birds; vol. 3
Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Birds
"The _Jer-moonals_, as these birds are called in India, never enter forest
or jungle, and avoid spots where the grass is long, or where there is
underwood of any kind. It is needless to add that they never perch. During
the day, if the weather be fine and warm, they sit on the rocks, or rugged
part of the hills, without moving much about, except in the morning and
evening. When it is cold and cloudy, and in rainy weather, they are very
brisk, and are moving about and feeding all day long. When feeding they
walk slowly uphill, picking up the tender blades of grass and young shoots
of plants, occasionally stopping to snatch up a certain bulbous root of
which they seem very fond. If they reach the summit of the hill, after
remaining stationary for some time, they fly off to another quarter,
alighting some distance down, and again picking their way upwards. When
walking, they erect their tails, have a rather ungainly gait, and at a
little distance present something the appearance of a large grey Goose.
They are partial to feeding on spots where the sheep have been kept at
nights when grazing in the summer pastures. These places have been called
'tatters' by the shepherds, and the grass on them keeps green and fresh
long after the rest of the hill is dry and brown. They roost on the rocks
and shelves of precipices, and return to one spot many successive nights.
Their call is a low, soft whistling, occasionally heard at intervals
throughout the day, but more generally at daybreak. It is most common in
cloudy weather. The first note is considerably prolonged, and followed
by a succession of low rapid whistles. This species has by far the most
agreeable song of all our game birds. This call is only heard when the
bird is at rest. When alarmed and walking away, it sometimes utters, at
short intervals, a single low whistle, and when it gets on the wing the
whistles are shrill and very rapid. However far it flies, the whistles are
continued until it alights, and for a few seconds afterwards, but then
slightly changed in tone to a few notes which seem in a strange manner
to express satisfaction at being again on the ground. However odd the
comparison, I can compare the whistling of these birds, when flying and
alighting, to nothing but the different sounds produced by the wings of a
flock of Pigeons when flying, and when alighting on some spot where they
have to flutter a few seconds before they gain footing."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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