508 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



when hunting for small game; yet Pea-chicks are well worth 

 a morning's shikar for the table, and a plump young Peahen if 

 kept for two or three days, is really excellent. An old Peacock is 

 only fit to make soup of. A bird merely winged will often escape 

 by the fleetness of its running. They generally roost on particular 

 trees, and by going early or late to this place, they can readily be 

 shot. Pea-fowl are easily caught in snares, common hair-nooses, 

 and are generally brought in alive, for sale in numbers, in those 

 districts where they abound. In confinement they will destroy 

 snakes and other reptiles, and in their wild state feed much on 

 various insects and grubs, also on flower buds and young shoots, 

 as well as on grain. 



The Burmese Pea-fowl, Pavo jnuticus, Linno3us, (P. assamicus, 

 McLelland,) notwithstanding the Linna3an name, has spurs ; its crest 

 is quite different -^n structure from that of cristatus, being composed 

 of about ten or more slender barbed feathers. Though not so showy 

 as the common Peacock, it is, perhaps, a still more beautiful bird, 

 having more green and gold and less blue in its plumage. It is 

 found in all the countries to the Eastwards, from Assam southwards 

 through Burmah to Malacca, and many of the Islands. Hybrids 

 between the two species are not rare in Aviaries. 



Near the Pea-fowl should be placed ihe ^quus Polypledron or 

 Pea-pheasants, often called Argus Pheasants. The males are very 

 beautifully adorned with green or pink ocelli over the body, 

 Tivings, and tail, which consists of sixteen feathers. The tarsi 

 are armed with two or even three spurs in the male. They 

 are peculiar to the Indo-Chinese countries, and Malay ana, one 

 species Polyplectron tihetanum, {cJiinguis, Temminck, PI. col. 

 539), occurring in the hilly regions of upper Assam, SyUiet, 

 Tipperahand Chittagong, extending through Burmah to Tenasserim. 

 The female is P. Uneatum figured in Hardwicke, 111. Ind. Zool. 

 Another species, P. bcalcaratum, L., is found in Malacca, 

 Sumatra, &c. ; and a very beautiful species, P. napoleonis, Massena, 

 {emphanum, Temm.) is probably from Borneo. A fourth species 

 without spots, P. chalcicrus T., has been separated by Bonaparte as 

 Chalmrns. It appears fo me tliat Perdix concentriea of Gray, in 



