74. 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



kind, they have nu great sagacity, and suffer 

 themselves easily to be taken. At night 

 they roost upon the highest trees of the wood; 

 and by day they come down into the lower 

 brakes and bushes, where' their food is chiefly 

 found. They generally make a kind of flap- 

 ping noise when they are with the females; 

 and this often apprises the sportsman 01 their 

 retreats. At otlier times he tracks them in 

 the snow, and frequently takes them in springs. 

 But of all birds they are shot most easily, as 

 they always make a whirring noise when 

 they rise, by which they alarm the gunner, 

 and being a large mark, and flying very slow, 

 there is scarcely any missing them. 



round spots of white on a brown or red ground, the 

 effect of which is very pleasing. 



Of the three species that are known at present, two 

 have been but recently introduced to science, nor, in- 

 deed, is our acquaintance with the one first described 

 of distant date. The first species is the horned phea- 

 sant of Nepal (Tragopan satyrus), (see Plate XVIII. 

 fig. 24. ; for Argus Pheasant, see fig. 8. ; and Diard's 

 Pheasant, fig. 10.) It was first described and figured 

 by Edwards, in the third volume of his " Natural His- 

 tory of Birds," p. 116, partly from a drawing sent 

 from India to Dr Mead, and partly from a head of the 

 bird preserved in spirits which accompanied the draw- 

 ing. Edwards's third volume is dated 1750, and his 

 plate was etched in 1749, as appears by the date in- 

 scribed in the corner. The alliance of this bird to the 

 turkey was not unobserved by this writer, who in his 

 catalogue places it among that group, while in his ac- 

 count of it he observes that it is, " for shape of body 

 and proportion of parts, pretty much like a turkey, and 

 may be ranged with fowls of the poultry kind." Dr 

 Latham, in his " General History of Birds," states that 

 these birds, though by no means common, "are not 

 unfrequent in drawings done in India; and are par- 

 ticularly well figured in those of Mr Middleton and 

 Lady Impey." * * * " In the drawings of Sir 

 J. Austruther it is said to inhabit the snowy regions 

 of Thibet." Its size is between that of a fowl and 

 turkey. It is beautifully figured in Gould's " Century 

 of Birds." 



The second species is from Thibet and the Chinese 

 borders, and was first described and figured in the 

 " Indian Zoology," by Mr Gray, under the title of 

 Tragopan Temminckii. Of this species, as rare as 

 it is beautiful, a living specimen, presented by J. R. 

 Reeves, Esq., is now in the Gardens of the Zoological 

 Society, and constitutes, as far as we are aware, the 

 first example of one of the present group having reached 

 our shores alive and in health. It was procured in 

 China. 



The third species is from the northern range of the 

 Himalaya, and was first illustrated in Mr Gould's 

 " Century," under the name of Tragopan Hastingsii } 

 the figures are those of an adult and young male, and 

 adult female. In size this species rather exceeds the 

 Tragopan satyrus, its total length being twenty-three 

 inches. The head of the adult male is covered with 

 a pendent crest of feathers, which, together with the 

 ear-coverts and the throat, are black ; the neck and 

 shoulders are rich maroon ; the chest, fine orange red ; 

 the naked skin round the eyes is scarlet; the wattles 

 and horns, purple, tinted here and there with scarlet. 

 The upper parts exhibit a mixture of zigzag lines, and 

 marks of dark and light brown, forming a ground on 

 which are scattered numerous distinct spots of white. 



Ah . what avail his glossy, varying dyes, 



His purpled crest, and scarlet circled eyes. 



'Jhe vivid fjreen his shining plumes unfold, 



His painted wings, and breast that flames with go!d. 



POPK. 



When these birds are taken young into 

 keeping, they become as familiar as chickens; 

 and when they are designed for breeding, 

 they are put together in a yard, five hens to 

 a cock ; for this bird, like all of the poultry 

 kind, is very salacious. In her natural state 

 the female makes her nest of dry grass and 

 leaves ; the same must be laid for her in the 

 pheasantry, and she herself will sometimes 



The feathers of the under surface are maroon, bordered 

 with black, and having each a large central spot of white. 

 The young male is less brilliant, and the wattles are 

 but little developed. 



The plumage of the female consists of an uniform 

 brown, mottled, barred, and dashed irregularly with 

 dark brown and dull fawn colour; the cheeks are clothed 

 with feathers, and the head is slightly crested: there 

 are neither horns nor pendent wattles. 



Of the habits and manners of these noble birds in a 

 state of nature little is accurately known. The strength 

 of their legs (tarsi), which are clothed with large scales, 

 and in the males armed with a short sharp spur, to- 

 gether with the rounded form of the wings, indicate 

 them to be chiefly terrestrial. The bill is strong and 

 large, but wants that spoonlike form of the tip of the 

 upper mandible, so conspicuous in the Impeyan phea- 

 sant (Lophophorus Imptyanus), by which it is adapted 

 for the scooping up of bulbous roots, on which that 

 bird is known to feed. Most probably the diet of the 

 present group consists, as in others of the rasorial order, 

 of grains, roots, and the larvae of ants and various 

 insects. 



Could the horned pheasants, or the refulgent Im- 

 peyan pheasant, be imported in suflicient numbers into 

 our island (and we trust this will be soon accomplished), 

 there is little doubt but that they might, with proper 

 management, become naturalized. There is nothing to 

 fear with regard to cold. They are the natives of a 

 cold or temperate region ; they verge upon the line of 

 perpetual snow ; so that the wooded hills of our por- 

 tion of the globe would not be very uncongenial to their 

 constitution. Nor would there be much difficulty in 

 providing them with suitable food. Grain forms the 

 staple diet of all the gallinaceous tribe ; hence the 

 peacock of India, the guinea-fowl of Africa, the com- 

 mon pheasant of Asia, the turkey of America, have 

 equally become naturalized and have multiplied in our 

 western regions to say nothing of the common fowl, 

 the origin of which is from India, but which, from time 

 immemorial, has been reclaimed or domesticated, and 

 has long since spread in this condition over the greatest 

 portion of the globe. If to our poultry-yard could be 

 added the horned pheasants, so closely allied to them in 

 form, habits, and general manners, they would constitute a 

 most important acquisition, and produce a full reward for the 

 trouble bestowed in their naturalization. Penny Magazine. 

 THE RINGED PHEASANT (Phasianus Torqualus) inhabits 

 the forests of China, and takes its name from the annular 

 band round its neck. PI. 54, fig. 2. 



THE SILVER PHEASANT (Phasianus nycthemerus). This 

 is one of the most powerful of the pheasants, and is match 

 in battle for a game-cock. It is a native of the northern 

 parts of China, where it is frequently kept in a tame stato. 

 PI. 54, fig. 4. 



