PHEASANTS. 227 



the presence of a banfl of white feathers which extends from the throat on botli sides 

 of the neck, and projects above and beyond tlie occiput like ears. Tliey are large, 

 graceful, and imposing-looking birds, very gentle and confiding in disposition, dwelling 

 in the forests of the high mountain ranges of Thibet and China. The Chinese species 

 are C. mantcharicuiu and C auriluni ; the first has the back and breast jiurplish 

 black; rump atid upper tail-coverts grayish white; flanks and under tail-coverts leaden 

 gray; tail-feathers grayish white at the base, jiurplish blue at the ends. The other 

 species has a general uniform ashy blue })luniage; the middle tail-feathers are black, 

 with green and violet reflections, the lateral ones white or nearly so, the end colored 

 like the median ones. The Thibetan species arc C. thibetamim, and <J. drouynii, 

 and have a general ]iure white plumage, with the crown of head velvety black. They 

 differ from each other in the wings and tail, — the first having the secondaries dark 

 lead-color, and the primaries dark rufous brown ; while the tail is black, glossed with 

 green, and with a white stripe on the outer webs of the lateral feathers. On the 

 other hand the C, drouynii has wings grayish white, and the tail is dark gray, with 

 the ends steel-blue, the central portions of the feathers having violet and coj)pery 

 green reflections. The median rcctrices of all the sjiecics have their webs very 

 loose and long, and they fall over the other feathers on either side. The tail is carried 

 in a drooping jiosture. There is also a nude crimson skin around the eyes of the four 

 species. 



J'or a long time a species of the genus Argus was supposed to exist, on account of 

 some feathers in the Paris Mfiseum, which resembled somewhat the long tail-featheis 

 of the known species. Latterly, however, an entire specimen of the bird has been 

 obtained from the interior of Tonquin, which shows that the species belong to a dif- 

 ferent genus, and the term lihcinardius has been jiroposed for it. The M. ocellatus 

 does not possess the long secondaries, nor the lengthened median rectrices of Aryus, 

 but the tail is composed of twelve large, graduated feathers, and the head is not bare. 

 The rectrices are dark, ash-gray, covered with large reddish sjiots with black centres, 

 oblong in form, but lengthened into lines toward the margin of the webs. The feathers 

 arc very broad, graduate to a sharj) point, and about four and a half feet long. 



The true argus pheasants are so well known that a desci-iption of their plumage would 

 be quite unnecessary. There are but two species, the common Aryus yiyanteus of upper 

 India, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra, and the A. yruyi of IJorneo. Nothing is 

 known of the habits of the latter, but several competent observers have related some 

 facts regarding the commoner s])ecies. Botn sexes live quite alone, each male having 

 a clear s])ot in the jungle, which he keej)S scrupulously clean. These j)laces are 

 probably used for exhibition grounds, for the males at certain seasons strut after the 

 manner of the jieacock ; but instead of the train, which the argus does not possess, 

 the long wing-feathers arc elevated, and the secondaries, with their numerous eyes or 

 spots, are arranged in a semicircle, the spread tail filling the space between the wings 

 completing the circle, and producing a very beautiful effect. They rarely fly, but esca])e 

 by running and hiding, no difficult matter in the dense jungles they fre(|uent. The 

 females have no especial ])lace of resort, but roam about the forest, visiting occasionally 

 the male in his abode. The food consists of fruit and insects of various kinds. The 

 female builds a rude nest, lays seven or eight eggs, said to be cream-color speckled 

 with brown. The Bornean species is smaller, has a red breast, a black tail, and is 

 differently marked on the wings and back. 



The genus Polyplectron is so called on account of its members having several spurs 



