THE ARGUS PHEASANT, OR GIGANTIC ARGUS. 169 



in procuring two females. Like the male, the head 

 and forepart of the neck is naked, a thick short 

 down covers the top of the head, stretching down 

 upon the neck, where it gradually lengthens, and as- 

 sumes the form of feathers : these parts are of a 

 brownish grey. The lower part of the neck, breast, 

 and upper parts of the back, are of a chestnut red ; 

 the lower part of the back, rump, lesser wing coverts, 

 and those of the tail, have, upon a yellowish-brown 

 ground, numerous black transverse bands, some large, 

 arid others narrow in the form of zigzags ; the tail, 

 which has no long feathers, as in the male, folds to- 

 gether, and forms an angle like that of a hen ; it is 

 of a brownish chestnut, varied with spots and black 

 bands, but the most remarkable difference is in the 

 secondaries ; in the male we found them to be two 

 feet ten inches long, in this sex they are only about 

 thirteen inches, and possess neither the development 

 in breadth, nor the ocellated spots so conspicuous 

 in the other. They are of a blackish brown, marked 

 with small and irregular bands of ochrey yellow. 



The habits of this singular bird are yet a point of 

 much interest in Ornithology. They are said not 

 to thrive well in a state of confinement, and we be- 

 lieve have never been brought alive to this country 

 Their incubation and breeding are equally unknown. 



