156 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



on the rectrices the mottling becomes coarser, and rather broken black-and-white 

 cross-bars appear, while more and more chestnut develops until, on the outer pairs, 

 this colour predominates, with irregular black-and-white mottling, and broad chestnut 

 tips flanked with black. 



The ventral plumage shows a wide grey terminal fringe followed by an irregular 

 white cross-bar, the remaining portion of the feather being bright chestnut, much of this 

 being visible. Along the sides the grey tip disappears and the white occupies most of 

 the web, with a dark-bordered spot of rufous, of greater or less size, on each web. The 

 entire belly and much of the flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts are pale buffy white. 



Chick in Down. — Head orange rufous, with a large central wedge in the crown 

 dark chocolate brown. Sides of the head and face paling into buff, and ventrally into 

 the creamy white of the chin and throat. A narrow, very distinct line of black extends 

 obliquely downward and back through the buff from near the posterior corner of the 

 eye, expanding on the ear-coverts and then diminishing again, and finally ending on 

 the lower side neck. The rufous ends abruptly on the lower neck and gives place to 

 a cold greyish body down. The mantle is of an indefinite mottled grey, replaced by 

 dark chocolate on the body, sides and wings. The scapular down is an impure creamy 

 white, which extends to the rump as two broad lateral bands trisecting the chocolate of 

 the body and sides. The terminal wing-down is buffy white, and the tail-down quite 

 warm rufous buff. The ventral surface is creamy white, stained on the breast with 

 buffy. Bill from nostril, 6 mm. ; wing, 26 ; tarsus, 22 ; middle toe and claw, 19. 



Juvenile Plumage. — Male : forehead, lores, superciliary, large sub-ocular facial 

 patch, chin, throat and side neck white. Anterior crown quite dark, with increasing 

 buffy tips posteriorly until the occiput shows only this colour. Lower face and ear- 

 coverts dark brown with buffy tips. Lower neck rufous, irregularly marked with black, 

 and a broad, elliptical shaft-stripe. On the mantle, scapulars and inner wing-feathers 

 the rufous gives place to a cold, sandy grey, and the black is consolidated into two 

 large spots, bounding the middle portion of the white shaft-streak. Wing-coverts pale, 

 vermiculated greyish-buff, with the white confined to a wide terminal band. Primaries 

 dark, with numerous bars of creamy buff. Secondaries and tail-feathers rather mottled 

 than barred. Breast buff with shaft-stripe and terminal band of white ; sides with 

 darker bufl" ground, making the shaft-stripe much more conspicuous. Lower breast 

 and belly creamy white. Bill from nostril, 11 mm. ; wing, 132; tarsus, 48; middle toe 

 and claw, 36. Spur, a low but sharp scalule. 



Female: all the white markings of the male are buff in the juvenile plumage of 

 this sex. The ventral surface and sides are creamy white with a uniform wash of buff 

 only on the breast. The crown is quite black with narrow buffy-brown tips. 



EARLY HISTORY 



This was one of the birds which, long before it was seen alive or dead by any 

 Caucasian, had for centuries been depicted in Chinese drawings. More than one early 

 ornithologist, after considering these paintings, decided to class the abnormally long- 

 tailed birds with the phoenix and the dragon as mere figments of the Mongolian 

 imagination. 



