( I03 ) 



THE IMPEYAN PHEASANT. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 

 Checks covered with a fmooth naked fkin. 



Utu 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER, &c. 



Blackirh-purple Pheafant, with a changeable luftre of green and copper- 

 colour, the body black beneath, the head crefted, the beak long and 

 crooked. 



Impeyan Pheafant. 



Lath. Synopf. Suppl. f. 208. 



TH E Phafianus curviroftris, or Impeyan Pheafant, is a fpecies known 

 only within thefe few years. It is a bird of uncommon beauty and 

 luftre of plumage : the general colour of the wings and back is a rich, glolTy, 

 blackifli purple, varied with changeable hues of green and copper- colour. The 

 feathers on the neck are of a narrow and fharpened form, and of a very 

 blight copper-ferruginous. The orbits of the eyes are furrounded with a naked 

 fkin of a blueifh-green tinge : the tail is of a bright bay or ferruginous 

 colour, and is rounded at the end : the under parts of the body are of a dull 

 black. The top of the head is ornamented by a creft of fingularly beautiful 

 ftrufture, confifting of a great many hnall, upright, nearly naked fhafts, each 

 terminated by an oval fharp-pointed web or feathered part, of the fame bril- 

 liant appearance with the reft of the head and neck. 



P ^ The 



