PHEASANTS. 



421 



common monal, and having the breast and under-parts glossed with green. While 

 the male is represented by only very few skins, the female is still unknown. In 

 the mountains of North-Eastern Tibet and Western China the equally brilliant and 

 even larger bird L. Vhnysii occurs, the male being recognised by his black tail 

 glossed with bluish green and spotted with white. Lastly, the splendid Sclater's 

 monal, already mentioned, inhabits the Mishmi Hills in Assam, and has, in 

 addition to its peculiarly feathered head, the whole of the lower back, rump, and 

 upper tail-coverts white, and a white band across the chestnut tail. 



Fire-Backed The crestless fire -backed pheasants from the Malayan region 



Pheasants. are about the size of bantam hens, and further resemble these birds 

 in the shape of their rather short and vaulted tails. In two species (Acomus 

 erythropkthalmus and A, pyronotus) the males have the lower-back and rump 

 fiery bronze-red, while the females are entirely black, glossed with purplish or 

 steel-blue, and armed with spurs like the male ; but in the third, from Western 

 Sumatra, the male has the plumage entirely black, and thus closely resembles the 

 females of the other species. Closely allied to the above are the crested fire-backed 

 pheasants, inhabiting the same countries, but ranging farther north into Tenasserim, 

 the Shan States, and Cochin-China. The males are adorned with a full, erect 

 crest, composed of bare-shafted feathers, supporting a bunch of plumes at the 

 extremity, the sides of the head are naked and covered with large wattles, and 

 the tail is long and shaped somewhat like that of the jungle-fowl. The male of 

 Vieillot's fire-back (Lophwra rufa} is further characterised by having the neck, 

 mantle, and breast purplish blue, the lower-back and rump bronze-red, and the 

 middle tail-feathers white. All the rest of the under-parts are black, the feathers 

 of the sides and flanks with white shaft-stripes, the naked, facial skin and wattles 

 bright blue, the legs and feet vermilion, and the strong spurs whitish. The female 

 has the crest less developed, and the general colour of the plumage chestnut ; the 

 throat white; the feathers of the neck and chest margined with white on the 

 sides ; the breast and sides of the belly black, mottled with chestnut, and edged 

 with white ; and the rest of the under-parts white, mottled with black. The soft 

 parts are like those of the male, but paler, and there are no spurs on the legs. 



Buiwer's One of the most splendid of the group is Bulwer's pheasant 



Pheasant. (Lobiophasis bulweri) of North Borneo, in which the male has no 

 less than thirty-two tail-feathers, and the female two pairs less. In the adult 

 male the neck and chest are deep crimson, the rest of the plumage mostly black, 

 each feather being edged with steel-blue at the extremity, and the long, curved 

 tail pure white. The head is almost entirely naked, having only a few feathers 

 down the middle of the crown, and ornamented with three pairs of elongate 

 wattles, all being bright blue ; while the legs, feet, and spurs are red. 



Eared The five species of eared pheasants, from Central and Eastern Asia, 



Pheasants. are bi rc js of large size, their loose hairy plumage making them look 

 even larger than they really are. In all except Crossoptilum lemcurum, in which 

 the male appears to have more white in the tail than the female, the plumage of the 

 sexes is alike, although the females lack the blunt spurs of the males. The top of 

 the head is clothed with soft, curly feathers; the sides of the face being naked and 

 covered with warts ; while the ear-coverts are produced into long white tufts on 



