VKILLOrS FIREBACK. 613 



The second ruffed Pheasant is that whicli is known by the name of Amheest'8 

 Pheasant {Thaumdlea Amliersticc), also a native of China. This magnificent bird has 

 a wonderfully long and broad tail, quite as remarkable as that of Pieeves' Pheasant. 

 The crest of this beautiful bird is scarlet, the tijipet is snowy white, each feather being 

 tipped with velvety black, the shoulders are rich shining green, the abdomen pure 

 white, and the tail is white, barred with dark green, and strikingly varied with the 

 scarlet tips of the upper tail-coverts, which are much elongated. 



The Silver Pheasant is another inhabitant of China, and is found chiefly in the 

 northern portions of that country. 



It is one of the largest and most powerfid of the tribe to which it belongs, and is 

 said to be a match for a gamecock in fair combat. It is a hardy bird, and like the 

 Golden Pheasant, has been turned loose into British presei-ves, but with even less 

 success. The weight of the bird is generally too great in proportion to its strength of 

 wing, so that it does not readily raise itself fi'om the ground, and thereby runs a risk 

 of being devoured by the carnivorous quadrupeds that infest every preserve. Moreover, 

 it is so large, so strong, and so combative, that it fights the common Pheasants and 

 drives them out of the coverts, so that at present we Lave to content ourselves with 

 rearing it under the safe protection of brick and wire. 



The crest on the top of the head is deep purple-black, and the naked skin round the 

 eyes, which forms a kind of wattle over the nostrils and below the chin, is a bright 

 scarlet. The upper surface of the body is pure silver-white, delicately pencilled with 

 wavy black lines. The tail is also white, pencilled boldly with black, except the two 

 central feathers, which are wholly white, long and curved. The breast and abdomen are 

 of the same deep purple black as the crest. The colours of the female are quite dis- 

 similar, so that the bird would hardly be recognised as belonging to the same species. 

 She is much smaller in size, has a smaller crest, and a shorter tail, of a brown colour, 

 streaked on the outer feathers with black and white. Instead of the silveiy white of 

 the male, her back is greyish brown, irregularly marked and waved with narrow black 

 bars. The breast and abdomen are greyish white, marked with brown and baraed with 

 black. 



The very handsome Fikeback is an Asiatic bird, inhabiting Sumatra and in all 

 probability several other neighbouring localities. 



The popular name of Fireback is very appropriate, being given to the bird on account 

 of the fiery red feathers which decorate a considerable portion of the back. It is re- 

 markable for the great size of the naked skin about the eyes, which nearly covers the 

 whole head, running over the ears and forehead, and descending well below the chin. 

 The colour is of a bluish purple during the life of the bird, but after its death the colour 

 darkens into dark brown, as is generally the case with bare skin both in beasts and 

 birds, and in the stuffed species it shrinks, like wetted leather, and entirely loses its 

 former fulness and shape. 



Tlie head is decorated with an elegant crest of upright feathers, their- shafts being 

 nearly devoid of web, and expanding at the extremities into a number of delicate barbs. 

 The general colour of the bird is rich deep satiny violet, appearing black except in 

 certain lights, and the feathers of the lower part of the back are flaming orange-red, 

 the depth of hue being changeable according to the light. The tail is smaller than that 

 of the domestic cock, and the central feathers are snowy white, the others being deep 

 green glossed with purple. Tlie total length of the adult male is about two feet. The 

 female is smaller, and her plumage is warm cinnamon-brown above and greyish white 

 below. 



We now arrive at the typical genus of the Gallinse, to which our ordinary barn-door 

 poultry, with all its multitudinous varieties belongs. Our first example of this genus is 

 the beautiful Sonneeat's Jungle Fowl. 



This fine bird is a native of India, and is found chiefly in the wooded districts. 

 Although smaller than the common domestic fowl, it is- a wonderfully powerful bird in 



