PHEASANTS. 227 



the presence of a band of white feathers which extends from the throat on both sides 

 of the neck, and projects above and beyond the occiput like ears. They are lar^e, 

 graceful, and imposing-looking birds, very gentle and confiding in disposition, dwellinf 

 in the forests of the high mountain ranges of Thibet and China. The Chinese species 

 are C. mantchuricum and C. auritum ; the first has the back and breast purplish 

 black; rump and tipper tail-coverts grayish white; flanks and under tail-coverts leaden 

 gray ; tail-feathers grayish white at the base, purplish blue at the ends. The other 

 species has a general uniform ashy blue plumage ; the middle tail-feathers are black, 

 with green and violet reflections, the lateral ones white or nearly so, the end colored 

 like the median ones. The Thibetan species are C. thibetannm, and C. drouynii^ 

 and have a general pure white plumage, with the crown of head velvety black. They 

 differ from each other in the wings and tail, the first having the secondaries dark 

 lead-color, and the primaries dark rufous brown ; while the tail is black, glossed with 

 green, and with a white stripe on the outer webs of the lateral feathers. On the 

 other hand the C. drouynii has wings grayish white, and the tail is dark gray, with 

 the ends steel-blue, the central portions of the feathers having violet and coppery 

 green reflections. The median rectrices of all the species have their webs very 

 loose and long, and they fall over the other feathers on either side. The tail is carried 

 in a drooping posture. There is also a nude crimson skin around the eyes of the four 

 species. 



For a long time a species of the genus Argus was supposed to exist, on account of 

 some feathers in the Paris Museum, which resembled somewhat the long tail-feathers 

 of the known species. Latterly, however, an entire specimen of the bird has been 

 obtained from the interior of Tonquin, which shows that the species belong to a dif- 

 ferent genus, and the term Rheinardius has been proposed for it. The R. ocellatus 

 does not possess the long secondaries, nor the lengthened median rectrices of Argus, 

 but the tail is composed of twelve large, graduated feathers, and the head is not bare. 

 The rectrices are dark, ash-gray, covered with large reddish spots with black centres, 

 oblong in form, but lengthened into lines toward the margin of the webs. The feathers 

 are very broad, graduate to a sharp point, and about four and a half feet long. 



The true argus pheasants are so well known that a description of their plumage would 

 be quite unnecessary. There are but two species, the common Argus giganteus of upper 

 India, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra, and the A. grayi of Borneo. Nothing is 

 known of the habits of the latter, but several competent observers have related some 

 facts regarding the commoner species. Both sexes live quite alone, each male having 

 a clear spot in the jungle, which he keeps scrupulously clean. These places are 

 probably tased for exhibition grounds, for the males at certain seasons strut after the 

 manner of the peacock; but instead of the train, which the argus does not possess, 

 the long wing-feathers are elevated, and the secondaries, with their numerous eyes or 

 spots, are arranged in a semicircle, the spread tail filling the space between the wings 

 completing the circle, and producing a very beautiful effect. They rarely fly, but escape 

 by running and hiding, no difficult matter in the dense jungles they frequent. The 

 females have no especial place of resort, but roam about the forest, visiting occasionally 

 the male in his abode. The food consists of fruit and insects of various kinds. The 

 female builds a rude nest, lays seven or eight eggs, said to be cream-color speckled 

 with brown. The Bornean species is smaller, has a red breast, a black tail, and is 

 differently marked on the wings and back. 



The genus Polyplectfron is so called on account of its members having several spurs 



