JOURNAL 



OF THE 



Bombay Natural History Society. 



Jany. 1916. Vol. XXIV. No. 2. 



' THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 



BY 



E. 0. Stuart Baker, F.L.S., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 



Part XVIII. 



With Plate. 



Sub-family — ARGUSiANm.G. 



The present sub-family consists of birds of grey plumage with 

 occellations of metallic colour, brilliant in the male but sometimes 

 duller or absent in the female. The tail feathers vary in number 

 from 12 to 24. 



The sides of the head and face are more or less naked ; the tarsus' 

 is sometimes spurred with one or more spurs, sometimes without any.. 

 The general character of the plumage is very soft and lax. 



According to Beebe all the genera of this sub-family moult their' 

 tail feathers commencing with the third from the central pair and 

 proceeding thence outwards and inwards simiTltaneously. 



Key to Genera. 



Secondaries longer than pi'imaries ; tail feathers 12 . . . Argusianus . 

 Secondaries no longer than primaries ; tail feathers 



from 20 to 24 in number ... ... ...Toly electron. 



Qen-as—AB,G U8IANUS. 



The genus Argus is distinguished from all other Indian Game 

 Birds in having the secondaries longer than the primaries ; in the 

 male bird the former being practically twice the length of the 

 latter. The genus Rheinardtius is very closely allied to Argusianus 

 but is not represented within our limits. In Argusianus the central 

 tail feathers are nearly twice the length of the next pair, the remain- 

 ing pairs being graduated, whilst in Polyjjlectron all the feathers are 

 graduated. 



