260 Sir R. H. Schomburgk 07i the Birds " ''' 



The Kai-pha I speak about was quite tame 

 the verandah of my residence. Meanwhile f 

 to me for sale, said to be the female ; and al 

 character of a Pheasant, and the want of spu, 

 hen, the difference of the plumage was so great 

 to doubt whether it was the female of this s 

 I considered what difference there is betwt 

 female of our Pheasant in the same respect, lik 

 versicolor, and still more so in the true Fir 

 {Eup/ocamus ignitus) (the female of which, by- 

 much the one of the Kai-pha), I did not dou 

 receive sometimes visits from the governors 

 Lao country, provinces to the north of S 

 learned that it was a native there, I questionc 

 pronounced unhesitatingly that it was the f( 

 was principally to be found in the eastern st; 

 Shang country, especially at Phre or Phe. I 

 the bird likewise frequents parts of the Ms 

 saw one in a domesticated state in Mouluiein. 

 had come from there. Although the Kai-ph 

 plumage, cannot be compared either with the 

 Pheasant, still there is something graceful 

 stately in its walk. I have already observe* 

 another bird after the one the skin of which 

 allowed him to leave his coop and to walk al 

 where he picked up insects, apparently more 

 than the every-day food of paddy (rice in husk) 

 spider or ant crawl up the walls in the room, ne would ny 

 up several feet to catch it. He was very partial to plantains 

 and bananas, indeed to almost any kind of fruit : this pre- 

 dilection he may have acquired in his state of domestication. 

 Both in his coop and when walking about in the verandah, he 

 emitted frequently a faint sound ; but when disturbed or alarmed, 

 the sound was harsh ; and when flying up, it was with a whirring 

 noise, similar to that of our Partridges, but stronger. The 

 female, though so different in plumage, has the same manners 

 as the male. I possessed two ; one was quite wild, and could 

 not be allowed to leave the cage, but the other was as tame as 



