THE CHINESE PEACOCK. 1(55 



Description of male and female. 



mon peacock : the bill is black, but from the 

 nostrils to the tip of the upper mandible, red; 

 the iris is yellow. The feathers on the crown of 

 the head are sufficiently long to form a crest, of 

 a dull brown colour. The space between the 

 bill and thighs is naked, with a few scattered 

 hairs ; the sides of the head are white ; the neck 

 is bright brown, striated across with dusky 

 brown ; the upper parts of the back, scapulars, 

 and wing-coverts, are dull brown, dotted with 

 paler brown, and yellowish ; besides which each 

 feather is marked near the end with a roundish 

 large spot of a gilded purple colour, changing 

 into blue and green in different lights ; the lower 

 part of the back is dotted with white; all the 

 under parts are brown, striated transversely with 

 black; the quills are dusky; the secondaries are 

 marked with the same spot as the rest of the 

 wing; the upper-tail coverts are longer than the 

 tail, and each marked at the end with a spot like 

 the wing feathers, each of which is surrounded 

 first with a circle of black, and ultimately with 

 an orange one ; the legs and claws are brown, 

 and- on the back part of each leg are two spurs, 

 one above the other. 



The female is a -third smaller than the male. 

 The head, neck, and under parts are brown; the 

 head smooth; the upper parts are also brown, 

 and the feathers marked with a dull blue spot, 

 surrounded with dirty orange; the feathers which 

 Cover the tail are similar, but marked at the end 



