226 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



in the forest will at once take wincr, l>"t in the open field usually walk or run to 

 cover. They utter, when flushed, .-i succession of shrill whistles, and, on alighting, 

 commcnee their plaintive call. They alight often in trees, and remain niotioidess, 

 Bomctimes jicnnitting a sufficiently near aj)i)roach to be killed with a shot-gun. They 

 feed oTi grubs or maggots, which they find under leaves, etc., and pass a great part of 

 their time digging in the ground with their powerful bills. The flesh is delicate, simi- 

 lar to the turkey's, being e8j)eeially well flavored in autumn and winter. Great num- 

 bers are killed for their skins, and in some places they have been almost c.\terminatcd 

 in order to satisfy this pernicious demand of fashion in civilized lands. They breed 

 at high elevations (7,000 to lii,000 feet), make little or no nest, and the eggs, four to 



Fio. \W.— Cro$soptilon manrcAurimm, earcd-phcnsant. 



six in nutiilM 1-, are a dull white, speckled with reddish-brown. The sexes are entirely 

 unlike in plumage, the female having none of the brilliant colors so characteristic of 

 the male. The cocks weigh from four pounds six ounces to five pounds and a h.alf ; 

 the females a little less. The crests of all the species of Lophophorus are different, 

 that of the im|)eyan having the shafts bare of webs at the base, with metallic green 

 spatides at the tips. L. r/iui/sii has a full, lengthened crest, metallic green with 

 purple reflections ; but Z. sclateri has the top of the head covered with short, curly, 

 recurved, green feathers. All of the species have the back of the neek brilliant me- 

 tallic red, extending on to the back on the two last named, but changing in L. inipei/- 

 anus in certain lights to a golden yellow. 



The eared-pheasants of the genus Crossoptilon are four in number, and the females 

 only differ from the males by wanting spurs. They receive their trivial name from 



