434 PHASIANUS SHAWI AND PHASIANUS INSIGNIS, ELLIOT. 



while the one having the green reflections extending all down 

 the chest was P. insignis. I tried to find out from the text 

 whether Mr. Elliot pointed out any distinction between his two 

 species, but as this was not obvious on a first reading I copied 

 down his descriptions of the corresponding parts of P. insignis 

 and P. Shawi in opposite columns, underlined the discrepancies, 

 and sat down to study the subject with my specimens before 

 me. So far then I had ascertained what form was called insignis 

 and what Shawi, and with the two collections of twenty male 

 Pheasants I could roughly set aside sixteen which would be 

 called by Mr. Elliot Phasianus insignis, and four which I pre- 

 sume he would have accepted as P. Shawi. The next point was 

 to put down in words what the distinctions between the two 

 sets really were. To take Mr. Elliot's description first, I found 

 that what he said would apply generally to birds in both series, 

 and indeed could only fix on six salient points : 



a. Insignis more brilliant than Shawi; nothing could be 

 made out of this, for in the twenty birds not even three could 

 be found exactly alike in this respect: some of the specimens 

 were most gorgeous and the worst were never dull. 



b. The tippings of the feathers of the back, scapulars, 

 breast and flanks green in insignis, blue in Shaioi; a careful 

 comparison of the birds showed that this would not hold at all, 

 some of the latter series having the tippings quite green and 

 many of the former series very blue. 



c. Centre of abdomen and thighs, in insignis, black, in 

 Shawi, brownish black ; this also would not hold ; some Shaioi 

 had the abdomen black or greenish black, and one or two 

 insignis brownish. 



d. Insignis has the tips of the under tail-coverts washed with 

 green ; my Shaioi series was certainly devoid of this character, 

 but on the other hand in at least seven of insignis also 

 not a trace of it was present. 



e. In P. Shawi the rump has greenish reflections ; but so 

 had the majority of my specimens of insignis. 



f. Lastly : feet and tarsi of insignis blackish brown, of 

 Shawi greyish ; this does not hold good — some of my Shawi 

 series had darker feet and tarsi than insignis, and many of the 

 latter had the legs and feet lightish grey. 



Having failed to discover that Mr. Elliot's description 

 would help us to uphold two species, I next ventured to try 

 if I could not find something distinctive myself. I started 

 several points : the wing coverts, the edgings of the feathers 

 of the lower back, the colours of the thighs, &c, but they 

 really would not answer ; the series were alike in these res- 

 pects. The following three points were the last and most 

 promising : 



