PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



lived for some time in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, 

 where he was the object of great attraction to all who saw him. 

 The other four are now living. One of these is a female, at 

 present in the Gardens of Amsterdam, where I lately saw it. 

 Another male is in the private collection of Phasianidce, 

 belonging to His Majesty, the King of Italy. A pair was 

 originally shipped, but the female unfortunately died on the 

 voyage. The male, as I have lately heard, is in fine 

 condition and very tame. It is to be hoped that the female 

 now at Amsterdam will also become His Majesty's property, 

 and that the race may be continued in Europe. The 

 remaining pair are the property of Baron Rothschild and 

 are now living in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, 

 Regent's Park, and walk about their enclosure with a proud 

 and upright carriage. Unfortunately, the male is shorn of 

 his chief ornaments, as it was necessary to cut the tail and 

 secondary feathers to allow of his introduction into the box 

 which served as his home during the voyage to England. 

 It is apparently not a difficult bird to preserve in confine- 

 ment, and we may confidently trust that it will, before long, 

 be a familiar object in pheasantries of Europe. 



" The Great Argus is accustomed to strut somewhat after 

 the manner of the Peacock, but he has no length of train to 

 display, though he makes up for this by elevating and 

 opening his wings, so that the long secondaries are shown in 

 a semicircle over his back, the spread tail completing the 

 circle and filling up the space between the wings in the 

 centre. This exhibition has an exceedingly beautiful effect, 

 the hundreds of eyes or spots scattered over the feathers 

 giving the bird a very novel appearance. 



"The top of the head and occipital crest, black; bare 

 skin of head and neck, rich deep blue ; breasts and under 

 parts, deep red with black and buff lines running along the 



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