182 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXV. 



As the edges of the feathers wear away, the sheen graduallj' de- 

 creases in extent, so that birds in worn abraded plumage appear to 

 be unglossed, dull black above and very brownish below, especially 

 on the abdomen and vent which is never very glossy. 



The qnills, of which only the innermost secondaries are glossed, 

 are more brown than black, and the lustre on the secondaries is 

 often more distinctly purj^le than it is oii the back. 



The lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts are black, sub- 

 tipped with glossy blue or purple-blue, and with broad terminal 

 bars of white. 



The amount of white on these parts varies very greatly i]i 

 different individuals. In the majority it consists of well-defined 

 broad edges of w^hite from 15" to 25" in depth, but in many the 

 meeting of the black and white is broken up by a naiTow strip of 

 black and white vermiculations. In others the feathers are YQvy 

 highly glossed, and have very narrow white edges ; in others again 

 tbese edges are so broad that the black bases are almost concealed, 

 and the rump looks practicallj'^ pure white. In a few birds the 

 w^hite edges to the feathers of the lower back extend also to the 

 upper back, scapulars and the innermost secondaries and their coverts. 



The lower plumage is very seldom marked with white, but I 

 have seen specimens from Goalpara, w^hich marks almost the ex- 

 treme western range of this pheasant, from Sylhet which is the 

 centre of their habitat, and again from the extreme East (vide 

 Gates, viearsi) with fine white lines on the feathers of the sides of 

 the breast and flanks, the streaks appearing either as central stri93 

 to the feathers or, less often, on the outer webs only. I have also 

 seen one or two specimens wdth faint indications of white outer 

 edges to the breast feathers. 



In young birds the central rectiices are often more or less ver- 

 miculated or narrowly barred with brown or brownish white, but 

 this is rare in old birds. 



Colours of soft parts. — Bare skin of face and la])pels deep crim- 

 son, crimson or blood-crimson, brightest in the breeding season, 

 and dullest during the moults ; occasionally this portion of the face 

 has a rather brick-red tinge. Iris dark brown, hazel broMii. oi- 

 rarely, red-brown ; legs and feet dull greenish phimbeous, plum- 

 beous, ashy-grey, greenish brown or slaty brown. Occasionall}' a 

 bird may be shot with a pinkish or reddish tinge to the legs, but it 

 is onl}^ a slight tinge of this colour, and the legs are never red as 

 they are in the white forms of the Silver Pheasant. Hume describes 

 one bird as having legs of " delicate pale pinkish, drabbish brown." 

 The spur is horny brown or black, nearhr always darker than the 

 leg itself, but with a white or whitish tip. Bill light greenish or 

 yellowish hornj^ the culmen darker, the base of the bill usually 

 blackish as far as the nostrils, and sometimes beyond them. 



