Crimson-headed Wood-Partridge. 375 



rare bird was originally described by Dr. Sharpe fifteen years 

 ago (Ibis, 1879, p. 2G6), from a female specimen obtained 

 by Mr. W. H. Treacher near the Lawas River, no additional 

 specimens reached this country till November 1891, when 

 Mr. C. Hose had the good fortune to secure a second female on 

 the moss-clad summit of Mount Dulit at an elevation of 5000 

 feet. Finally, in 1893, one of Mr. A. H. Everett's collectors 

 captured an adult male on Mount Kina Balu, from which the 

 figure in Plate X. has been taken. In spite of the efforts of 

 various well-known collectors, these three specimens, so far as 

 I am aware, are the only examples of this scarce bird known, 

 neither Mr. J. Whitehead nor his collectors having met 

 wdth a single example during many mouths spent on the 

 slopes of Kina Balu. The type (from the Lawas River) is 

 preserved in the Oxford Museum, but 1 am pleased to say 

 that both the other specimens, so well depicted in Mr. Keule- 

 mans's excellent drawing, now form part of the National 

 Collection, Mr. Everett having most generously presented the 

 male example to Dr. Sharpe. The specimen was in rather 

 poor condition when it arrived, the neck having been 

 twisted round so that the beautiful crimson feathers of 

 the fore neck and chest were mostly hidden amongst the 

 feathers of the mantle, while in places the skin had been 

 attacked by insects. The difficult and delicate task of making 

 this unique bird into a good cabinet-specimeu was entrusted 

 to Mr. J. Cullingford, of Durham, and, thanks to his care 

 and skill, we have had the satisfaction of receiving back a 

 perfect skin, witli every feather in its proper place. 



This wonderful bird, surpassing even the expectations 

 of those who had previously inspected the female speci- 

 mens, is most nearly allied to the Ferruginous Wood- 

 Partridges {Galoperdix) ; but the hind toe has a small well- 

 developed claw, and the tarsi are armed with no less than 

 three pairs of sharp spurs. As Mr. Everett^s specimen did 

 not arrive till vol. xxii. of the ' Catalogue of Birds ' was 

 almost ready for the binders, there was only room for a very 

 short description of it in the addenda (p. 560). The plumage 

 is very similar to that of the female, but the reddish chestnut 



