90 PHEASANTS ADAPTED FOR THE COVERT. 
very small, has five, the second twelve, the third twenty-two, the fourth nineteen 
scutella. The spur on the back of the tarsus is conical, blunt, and about a quarter 
of an inch long. 
«The feathers of the upper part of the head are oblong and blended, of the 
rest of the head and the upper part of the neck imbricated and rounded, of the 
fore-neck and breast broad, slightly emarginate or abruptly rounded; of the back 
broad end rounded, of the rump elongated, with loose filaments; of the sides very 
long, of the abdomen downy, of the legs soft and rather short. Directly over the 
aperture of the ear is a small erectile tuft of feathers. The wings are short, very 
broad, curved, rounded, of twenty-four quills; the primaries attenuated from near 
the base, rounded, the third and fourth longest, the first equal to the seventh; the 
secondaries broad, rounded, and little shorter than the primaries. The tail is very 
long, slightly arched, remarkably cuneate or tapering, of eighteen tapering feathers, 
of which the lateral are incurved, the central straight. Four pairs of the longest 
tail feathers are concave above towards the end, or channelled. 
“The bill is pale greenish-yellow, the nasal membrane light brown or flesh- 
coloured. The bare papillar patch on the side of the head is scarlet, in parts 
approaching to arterial blood-red, or at some seasons crimson. The eyelids are flesh- 
coloured, the iris yellow. The feet are light grey, tinged with brown, the claws 
light chocolate brown. 
“The feathers of the upper part of the head are deep brownish-green, with 
yellowish marginal filaments. The upper part of the neck is deep green behind, 
laterally and anteriorly greenish-blue and purplish-blue. The lower part of the neck 
is reddish-orange, anteriorly tinged with purple; the breast and sides brownish-yellow ; 
each feather terminally margined with purplish-blue, the dark margin indented in the 
middle, but the indentation gradually diminishing on the breast. The middle of the 
lower part of the breast is blackish-brown, glossed with green, the margins of the 
feathers being of the latter colour. The fore part of the back is yellowish-red, each 
feather slightly margined with black, and having a central oblong spot of the same. 
The scapulars are redder, with a slight black tip, the central part dull yellow mottled 
with dusky, margined with a black band. On the middle of the back the feathers 
are somewhat similarly variegated, with additional spots of light blue and purple. 
Those on the rump are of a deep red, with green and greyish tints. The inner 
wing-coverts are similar to the scapulars, ‘but edged externally with dark red, the 
outer yellowish-grey, variegated with whitish and dusky. The quills are light 
brownish-grey, variegated with pale greyish-yellow; the secondaries more tinged 
with brown on the outer edges. The tail is dull greenish-yellow, variegated 
with yellowish-grey, the feathers with narrow transverse bars of black, a broad 
longitudinal band of dull red on each side, the loose margins red, glossed with 
ereen and purple. On the abdomen and legs the feathers are dull greyish- 
