THE COMMON KOKLASS PHEASANT AND ITS ALLIES 7 



the superficial appearance of his very much overstuffed type specimens. Careful com- 

 parison shows practically no difference in size, and where there is some distinction, the 

 slight increase is in favour of macrolopha. There is no alternative but to give subspecific 

 rank to these forms, although in this case even trinomials do not tell the whole truth, as 

 biddulphi lies, geographically, between castanea and macrolopha. 



East of Kumaon we find the Koklass Pheasants becoming more and more dark over 

 the entire plumage, while the chestnut appears on and spreads over the mantle. Many 

 of the so-called specimens of nipalensis from Jerulali, western Nepal and the vicinity are 

 indistinguishable from dark-mantled macrolopha from Kumaon. No description has 

 hitherto been given of the extreme nipalensis type ; all relate to intermediate specimens. 

 But even in this extreme there is not a single character which is not found in all 

 conditions of gradation between the Nepal birds and the palest of Garhwal macrolopha. 

 Nipalensis differs from the castanea off-shoot in combining intense melanism with 

 increased general erythrism, while castanea exhibits the latter phenomenon only on the 

 mantle and the ventral surface. 



