320 Sir T. S. Raffles's Descriptive Catalogue 



2. PHASIANUS ignitus, Latham. 



TUGANG. £J^j 



This species is larger than a Cock, and is of a fine steel-black 

 colour. The lower part of the back is of a fiery ferruginous 

 tint. The four middle tail-feathers are white, and there are 

 narrow Avhite streaks along; the middle of the feathers on the 

 sides of the breast. The head is ornamented with a crest of 

 tufted feathers, and the naked cheeks are of a fine ultrama- 

 rine blue. The legs are armed with long and remarkably 

 strong spurs. 



The female is smaller, and has none of the brilliant colours of 

 the male. It has no crest, and the whole plumage is of a 

 mixed brown and black ; there are no white feathers in the 

 tail, and the flame-coloured patch on the back is wanting. In 

 the young of both sexes the colours are equally dull. 



3. PHASIANUS Argus, tinn. 



KUAOW. *\*£=3 



This magnificent bird, the pride of the Malayan forests, in 

 elegance of form and richness of attire is perhaps unequalled in 

 the feathered race. They are found in the deep forests of Su- 

 matra, generally in pairs ; they are said by the natives to make 

 a galangan, i. e. to dance and strut about each other in the 

 manner of the Peacocks. The plumage is too well known to 

 require description. Their total length is frequently five feet, 

 and the two middle tail-feathers exceed three. 



In a Malay poem, descriptive of the birds of Sumatra, the 

 Argus Pheasant is thus shortly but aptly characterised : " In the 

 superb and many-coloured Kuaow, it is impossible to discover a 

 single fault save one, the difficulty of pronouncing its name." 



4. PHASIANUS 



