608 



THE PHEASANT. 



t 1 '^'' Hil 





ARGUS PHEASANT.— ylrfl'7(.<! fiUjnnthis. 



ring, then olive with the least possible 

 tinge of purple, and lastly with a spot 

 of pure white near the tip, fading imper- 

 ceptibly into the olive on one side and 

 the chocolate on the other. Between these 

 " eyes" some leopard-like mottlings diver- 

 sify the rich fawn of the ground colour, 

 and outside them four wavy bands of 

 dark brown run along the feather to- 

 wards the edge, breaking up into spots 

 about an inch before they reach the edge. 

 The inner web is pale fawn covered with 

 black spots, surrounded with buff, and 

 the tip of the whole feather is deep brown, 

 spotted profusely with white. The shaft 

 is black at its base, and yellow towards 

 its termination. 



In another feather both webs are 

 marked just like a leopard, with dark 

 spots on a fawn ground, only the spots 

 are arranged in diagonal rows. But 

 along the shaft runs a band, about three- 

 quarters of an inch wide, of rich choco- 

 late, profusely speckled with the tiniest 

 white spots, also arranged in rows. This 

 band does not quite extend to the end of 

 the feather, which at its tip is pale fawn 

 very sparingly studded with deep brown 

 rosettes, surrounded with chestnut. These 

 are but tw^o feathers, and I might take 

 twenty as wonderful. In the female the 

 secondary feathers, instead of measuring 

 nearly a yard in length, are little more 

 than a foot, and the eyes are much more 

 obscure. The Argus Pheasant inhabits 

 Sumatra and neighbouring localities. 



The w^ell-known Pheasant affords a 

 triumphant instance of the success with 

 which a bird of a strange country may 

 be acclimatized to this island wdth some 

 little assistance from its owners. 



Originally the pheasant Avas an in- 

 habitant of Asia Minor, and has been by 

 degrees introduced into many European 

 countries, where its beauty of form and 

 plumage and the delicacy of its llesh 

 made it a welcome visitor. In this 

 country it is probably dependent to a 

 great extent on " preserves" for its ex- 

 istence, as, even putting aside the ma- 

 rauding attacks of poachers, whether biped 

 or quadruped, the bird requires much 

 shelter and plenty of food. Even with 

 the precautions tlaat are taken by the 

 owners of preserves, the breed is to some 



