308 The Fowl-like Birds 



In the Crested Fire-backs (Lophura) the males are provided with a full 

 crest composed of bare shafts terminating in a bunch of plumes; they have also 

 a naked patch on the sides of the head and in addition a large wattle on each 

 side of the neck. The four species comprising the genus are much larger birds, 

 enjoying practically the same distribution as the last. Their habits are but little 

 known, the one about which we have the most information being the Malayan 

 Crested Fire-back (L. rufa) of Siam, Tenasserim, the Malay Peninsula, and 

 Sumatra. Mr. Davidson says, "These birds frequent the thick evergreen forests 

 in small parties of five or six ; they never come into the open, but confine them- 

 selves to the forests, feeding on berries, tender leaves, and insects and grubs of 

 all kinds, are very fond of scratching about after the manner of domestic poultry, 

 and dusting themselves." The general plumage of the male in this species is 

 black, glossed with purplish blue, the lower back and rump being fiery bronzy 

 red, and the middle tail-feathers white; the female is chestnut throughout. 



Wattled Pheasants. Certainly one of the most striking members of the whole 

 group is Bulwer's Wattled Pheasant (Lobiophasis bulweri) of the mountain 

 forests of Sarawak, northern Borneo, the male of which has the head nearly 

 naked and ornamented with three pairs of wattles, and a long, flowing tail of 

 thirty-two pure white feathers. This splendid bird, which attains a length of 

 thirty-five inches, more than half of which is taken up by the tail, has the neck 

 and chest dark crimson, while the remainder of the plumage is black, each feather 

 being margined with steel-blue. The female is but twenty inches long, and has 

 only twenty-eight feathers in the tail, the general color of the plumage being 

 brownish buff or rufous, finely mottled with black. Bulwer's Pheasant is an 

 extremely shy bird, frequenting the dense mountain forests at an elevation not 

 exceeding 2000 feet, remaining mostly on the ground, and running through the 

 jungle with the greatest rapidity. 



Eared Pheasants. In the higher ranges of central and eastern Asia occur 

 the Eared Pheasants (Crossoplilon), the five species of which are large birds 

 between thirty-six and forty inches long, with a loose, hairy plumage, a long, 

 rounded tail of from twenty to twenty-four feathers, the middle pair being 

 curved and decomposed at the tips, and the sides of the face naked and 

 papillate, while the sides of the head are ornamented by long white tufts 

 which resemble horns or ears, whence of course their common name. Per- 

 haps the best-known is Hodgson's Eared Pheasant (C. tibetanum) of the moun- 

 tains of western China and eastern Tibet, where it is found in pine forests 

 at elevations some 10,000 or 12,000 feet above the sea, and is indeed a splendid 

 bird, being pure white both above and below, shading into gray on the longer 

 wing- and upper tail-coverts, while the top of the head is covered with short, 

 curly, black feathers, and the long, flowing tail is purplish bronze toward the 

 base, shading into dark greenish blue and deep purple toward the extremity; 

 this attractive plumage is further set off by the scarlet naked skin on the sides of 

 the head and the reddish bill and legs. This species is said to be extremely 

 sociable in its habits, as many as forty or fifty being found roosting in company, 

 and even while rearing its young, still maintains its sociability ; it feeds on leaves, 



