Ids iV/q;or-Ge«era/ Hardwicke's Description 



inriuence of the English resident at Katmandoo (the Honour- 

 able Edward Gardner), without which no single article, of 

 however little value, is obtainable by strangers from that jealous 

 people the Nepaulese. It is the only subject of its kind ob- 

 tained during Dr. Wallich's sojourning at Katmandoo ; and as 

 it appears to be an hitherto undescribed bird, it may also, from 

 its scarcity at that place, be deemed a rare one in the country. 



In size this bird comes near to Phasianiis criientus, and mea- 

 sures from the apex of the bill to the end of the tail 14^ inches. 

 Tiie bill is black, short, robust, and the mandibles of nearly equal 

 length (^ths of an inch), the upper one gently arched, the cul- 

 men rounded ; the lower mandible straight, scoop-shaped, and 

 obtuse at the apex ; the base of the upper mandible is covered 

 with a carmine-coloured cere, in which the nasal apertures are 

 seated. The eyes are surrounded with a narrow naked space of 

 similar colour, the irides brown bordered by a narrow ring of 

 black ; the pupil black. The legs are of a rufous brown : on 

 the left is a single conical spur, with the rudiment or tubercle of 

 another beneath it ; but on the right leg neither of these appen- 

 dao;es is evident. 



The prevailing colour of the plumage is a rust-coloured brown 

 blended with extremely narrow undulated lines of black, which 

 are most numerous on the back, wings, and tail, and producing 

 there a darker shade. The breast, neck, and cheeks, are of a 

 litihter rust-colour. About the head the feathers are a little 

 larger ; those on the crown gray, and longer, with divided webs, 

 rising into a Tnoderate-sized crest, which bend gently back- 

 wards. The wings are short, reaching to about the roots of the 

 tail-feathers ; the coverts almost obscured by the softness and 

 uniformity of the feathers. The tail, which consists of sub- 

 equal rounded feathers, is slightly tapered at the end, and is in 



length about five inches. 



The 



