THE GREY PEACOCK PHEASANT. 315 



Genus POLYPLEOTRON, Temm. 



673. POLYPLECTRON THIBETANUM. 

 THE GREY PEACOCK PHEASANT. 



Pavo tibetanus, Gm. Syat. Nat. i. p. 731. Polyplectron chinquis, Temm. P'uj. 

 et Gall ii. p. 363, iii. p. 675 ; Bl. $ Wold. B. Burm. p. 148 ; Inglis $ Hume, 

 S. F. v. p. 40. Polyplectron thibetanum, Elliot, Mon. Phas. i. pi. 6 ; Hume 

 fy Dav. S. F. vi. pp. 432, 521 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 110 ; Hume % Marsh. 

 Game Birds, i. p. 105, pi. ; Bingham, 8. F. ix. p. 195. 



Description. Male. Crown of head with the feathers thick-set and 

 somewhat long, but not forming a conspicuous crest; whole head and 

 neck greyish brown stippled with brown ; lower plumage pale ochraceous 

 barred with brown; whole upper plumage, wings and tail dark brown, 

 minutely speckled all over with greyish white ; the feathers of the back, 

 scapulars, tertiaries and wing-coverts tipped with pale buff, and each having 

 near the tip a large roundish violet-blue spot, tinged with a coppery gloss 

 next the buff tip ; each tail-feather with a large oval metallic-green patch 

 on each web, surrounded by a blackish and then by a buff ring. 



The female is similar in general appearance to the male ; but the spots 

 on the back and upper plumage are dull, and those on the tail are very 

 small and inconspicuous; the spots on the tail-coverts are altogether 

 absent. 



In the male the legs and feet were blackish, the claws black; upper 

 mandible and tip of lower mandible black, rest of lower mandible and 

 facial skin pale yellow ; irides white. The female had the legs and feet 

 very dark plumbeous ; upper mandible dark horny brown, paler on cere ; 

 lower mandible pale brown ; irides deep grey ; facial skin pale dingy fleshy 

 yellow. (Davison.) 



An allied species is P. bicalcaratum, which is said to have occurred 

 at Mergui. Mr. Blyth, however, does not include it in his list of Burmese 

 birds ; and Mr. Davison does not appear to have met with it in Tenasserim. 

 I shall therefore not include it in my work, but merely indicate it here. 

 It is about the same size and form as P. chinquis ; but it may be recognized 

 by the male having a well-defined sharp-pointed crest of narrow bluish 

 feathers, the upper plumage of a clear buff spotted with black, and the 

 ocelli green, not violet-blue. The female is similar to the male in general 

 colour ; but the ocelli on the upper plumage are blackish, without gloss, 

 and those on the tail are very small. 



The Grey Peacock-Pheasant is found abundantly in Arrakan. I have 

 never procured it in any part of Pegu, nor heard of any one having done so 

 which is rather strange, for the Pegu hills seem well fitted for it. In 



