t'2 PHASIAIS'IDJE. 



crest fuller than in the male ; lower neck all round chestnut, 

 passing on the back into black veriniculated and mottled with 

 chestnut and buff, which form mottled bars on the lower back, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts ; scapulars, wing-coverts, and second- 

 aries black, more coarselv vermiculated with buff than the back ; 

 primaries chestnut, speckled with black; tail-feathers black with 

 chestnut vermiculation ; lower parts from neck chestnut, speckled 

 with black, paler and greyer on the abdomen. 



Bill and claws \vhite with a bluish tiuge ; irides brown ; facial 

 kin dull blue ; legs and feet red, bright in males, paler in females 

 (Davison}. 



Length of male about 6 feet ; tail 50 inches ; wing (primaries) 

 ]8, to end of secondaries 34; tarsus 4-5; bill from gape 17. 

 Length of female 29 ; tail 13 ; wing 12 ; tarsus 3'6. 



Distribution. The Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, with the Laos 

 Mountains in Siam, and the extreme southern portion of Tenas- 

 serim, around Bankasoon, Malewoon, and the Upper Pakchan. 



Habits, $c. Much of our knowledge of this remarkable Pheasant 

 in the wild state is derived from Davison. The Argus is only 

 found in evergreen forests, and both males and females are solitary. 

 They feed on fruit, insects, &c., and both sexes have loud but 

 different calls, repeated ten or a dozen times, that may be heard 

 at a great distance. Each male clears a level open spot six or 

 eight yards square, which he keeps scrupulously clean from dead 

 leaves, weeds, &c., and here the bird remains all day, only roaming 

 in the morning and evening in search of food, and roosting at 

 night on a tree close by. These birds do not pair, and are said to 

 have no regular breeding-season ; the hen lays, it is said, 7 or 8 

 eggs in a rude nest on the ground- The eggs laid in confinement 

 are of a rich coffee-colour, finely punctured throughout, and 

 measure about 2-6 by 1-9. 



Genus POLYPLECTRUM, Temm., 1813. 



The Peacock Pheasants have a speckled plumage, and in typical 

 forms the wings and tail are ornamented with glossy purple and 

 green ocelli, especially in males. The sexes differ. The tail is of 

 moderate length and much rounded ; it contains 20 to 24 feathers, 

 the middle pair being twice as long as the outer in males, and 

 about half as long again in females. The sides of the face are 

 nearly or quite naked. The 1st primary is much the shortest of 

 all, the 2nd is shorter than the 10th, and the 6th generally longest. 

 The tarsus is much longer than the middle toe and claw, and there 

 are two, sometimes three, spurs on each leg in males. 



Six species are known, rangingthrough the Indo-Chinese countries 

 and the Malay Archipelago. None occurs west of the Bay of Bengal, 

 and only a single species is known to be found wild within the 

 Indian Empire. 



