THE PEACOCK-PHEASANTS. 



THE Peacock-Pheasants have very beauti- 

 ful plumage, adorned with brilliant ocelli. 

 The sexes do not differ very markedly, 

 but the female has the ocelli less brilliant 

 than the male. The males are remarkable 

 for the number of spurs on the leg ; two 

 or three on each being the usual number, 

 and occasionally four. This feature in- 

 duces me to place these birds near the 

 Spur-Fowl and the Blood- Pheasants. 



In these birds the feathers of the 

 crown and of the hindneck are very soft 

 and disintegrated. The feathers on the 

 front part of the crown and on the 

 forehead are slightly lengthened, but 

 cannot be said to form a crest. The tail 

 of the Indian representative *of this group 

 is composed of twenty feathers. These 

 are graduated, soft and broad, and form 

 a very large convex tail. In the case 

 of a female bird in captivity which had 

 chickens, it was observed that these always 

 took shelter under their mother's ample 

 tail and only left it when they had to run 

 forward to pick up food. 



Mr. Hume once procured from the 

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