THE ARGUS PHEASANT. 237 



forests, lie liad never yet sliot one, and liad never seen one 

 except after it had been caught. The bird is so exceedingly- 

 shy and wary, and runs along the ground in the densest parts 

 of the forest so quickly, that it is impossible to get near it; 

 and its sober colours and rich eye-like spots, Avhich are so 

 ornamental when seen in a museum, must harmonise well 

 with the dead leaves among which it dwells, and render it 

 very inconspicuous. All the specimens sold in Malacca are 

 caught in snares, and my informant, though he had shot none, 

 had snared plenty." 



The great peculiarity of the birds of this genus is that the 

 secondary flight feathers of the wings are excessively en- 

 larged and lengthened, being in the males double the length 

 of the primaries, and covered on the outer webs w'ith the 

 singular ocellated spots from whence the bird derives its 

 name. In the male, also, the two central tail feathers are 

 extremely elongated, and project in a very singular manner 

 beyond the others. 



Until recently the Argus giganteus was the only known 

 species in the genus; but another smaller Argus {A. grayi) 

 is now known by specimens in the British Museum ; 

 and the existence of one or two others is suspected from 

 specimens of feathers, differing from those of the known 

 species. 



The great Argus is over five feet in length, the tail being 

 three feet eight inches long. The prevailing colour of the 

 plumage is ochreous red or brown, unrelieved by any lively 

 or brilliant shade. The tints are distributed with so much 

 harmony, and covered with such a profusion of small spots, 

 or even points, sometimes darker and sometimes lighter than 

 the ground, that they produce the most agreeable efiFect. 

 Its long and broad secondary feathers are covered in their 

 entire length by a row of large eye-like spots, closely 

 imitating half globes ; the colour of these, as that of the 

 plumage, has, however, something resembling ancient bronze. 

 The primary feathers, with whitish external barbs, speckled 



