Birds of Palawan. 609 



these birds, though the convicts reported that they were 

 common^ and they succeeded in snaring several birds, which 

 they brought in alive. I turned them all loose except the 

 one above enumerated. They run very rapidly. 



Gallus gallus. 



a. ^ ad. 



The Red Jungle-Fowl was very common, and frequently 

 heard crowing in the early morning. They were often seen 

 in dense forest scratching amongst the undergrowth. They 

 also frequent the open clearings to feed on maize and other 

 crops. At such times, if cut oflf from the forest, they take 

 to wing and afford good shooting. The prisoners brought 

 in daily live birds of all ages and sexes. The flesh, though 

 eatable, is very tough. 



Polyplectron napoleonis. 



a, b, c. c? ad. ; d, e,f. c? juv. ; g. ? ad. ; k, i. ? juv. 



The three adult males are in full plumage and show a 

 narrow superciliary stripe. Another immature bird, which 

 has nearly completed the moult, shows no sign of any such 

 mark, whilst a still younger bird with a brown back mottled 

 with green and a brown crest, has a larger and wider stripe 

 than any of the others. A young male taken on June 29 

 closely resembles the adult female, but the crest is less 

 developed and the lores are blackish. The Palawan Peacock- 

 Pheasant, though common in the forests, is but seldom seen 

 except by natives. On July 8 I was walking along a narrow 

 trail with dense forest on either side, when an adult female 

 flew across the path. A lucky snapshot through the bushes 

 killed her. This was the only occasion I saw the bird, the 

 others being snared and brought in alive by the convicts. 

 Col, White told me that he had tried several times to keep 

 these birds alive in a large wire enclosure in company with 

 Jungle-Fowl, but they refused to eat any kind of grain 

 and soon died. In a wild state they feed on something not 

 unlike a small acorn, but I was never able to find the tree or 

 bush on which it grew. The flesh is delicious and tender. 



SEB,. X. — VOL. IV. 2 T 



