22 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



than to those of the common pheasant. The shells are glossy, some specimens more so 

 than others, and the surface is generally very closely and finely pitted with minute pores, 

 like those of the peafowl's egg. Occasionally these will be conspicuous, but usually very 

 close inspection is necessary to observe them. There is considerable variation in colour, 

 from pale creamy or buffy white to a warm, rich, reddish buff. They are wholly 

 unmarked, except that it is not rare to find small dots of white lime occurring irregularly 

 here and there on the shell. The eggs measure from 46 to 52 mm. in length, and from 

 31 to 39 in breadth. 



CAPTIVITY 



As regards the White-crested Kaleege in captivity, the first record of the species 

 breeding seems to be in the London Gardens in 1859, although a bird deposited eggs in 

 the same institution two years earlier. The birds lay quite readily, and the chicks are no 

 more difficult to rear than those of allied species. The adult birds live well, the average 

 life of twelve individuals being three years, while one individual lived six years and four 

 months. 



DETAILED DESCRIPTION 



Adult Male. — From the occiput springs a long, hairy, greyish-white crest, 

 sometimes reaching the length of no mm. These feathers are normal in character 

 and dark brown in colour for a short distance at their base — as long as the aftershaft — 

 and then the white colour appears and the barbs become very scanty and exceedingly 

 elongated, and for the distal four-fifths no shaft is distinguishable, the plume being 

 composed of fifteen or twenty filamentous, hair-like barbs. 



The remainder of the crown and neck all around, mantle, back, scapulars, wing- 

 coverts, rump and tail-covets are brownish black, shading into a metallic purple and 

 steel-blue gloss on the visible parts of the feathers. Entire mantle and scapulars with 

 each feather terminally edged with whitish. Posteriorly the mantle tends to show an 

 excess of the basal dark brown and a diminution of the metallic gloss. Entire back 

 and rump with a very broad terminal white fringe, averaging 7 mm. in breadth. The 

 longer upper tail-coverts are very narrowly margined with white. 



In typically patterned, fully adult birds the feathers of the wings are almost 

 unmarked, the invariable exception being the tertiaries, or inner secondaries, which are 

 conspicuously mottled along the terminal border with white. The green-glossed wing- 

 coverts are often edged with purplish. The secondaries are glossed only on the outer 

 web, and the primaries are uniformly dull brown, their coverts being darker. The tail 

 is black, glossed with purplish blue. 



Sides of the face, chin and throat dull brownish black. The narrow glossy band on 

 the lower throat gives place quite abruptly to the long, greyish-white lanceolate plumage 

 of the lower parts. The dark brown basal portions are ill-concealed on account of the 

 narrow, tapering character of the feathers, and the glistening white shaft is conspicuous 

 even on the pale distal portion. Posteriorly the basal brown increases, until the flanks 

 and under tail-coverts are quite brownish black, with only faint indications of whitish at 

 the tips. The under -tail-coverts are strongly glossed with greenish. 



Bare facial and loral area scarlet, covered with numerous elongate finger-like papillae 



