MALAYAN CRESTLESS FIREBACK 



Acomus erythrophthalmus (Raffles) 



Names. — Generic : Acomus, dKOfiOQ, hairless, referring to the absence of a crest. Specific : erythrophthalmus, 

 eovdgdg, eruthros, reddish ; d(p6alju6g, opthalmos, eye ; with reference to the red facial skin. English : Malayari 

 Crestless Fireback, Rufous-tailed Pheasant ; French : Faisan a queue rouge ; German : Gelbschwanziges 

 Fasanhuhn ; Native : Burong merah mata (Red-eyed Bird) ; Kuang bertam or Mata merah (Malay). 



Brief Description. — Male : Head dark brown ; lower back bronze-gold, changing posteriorly into bronze- 

 red ; tail buff; remaining plumage steel-blue, freckled on the back, sides and wings with white ; face scarlet. 

 Female : Head dark brown ; entire plumage, wings and tail shining steel-blue ; flight feathers and belly dull 

 brownish-black. 



Range. — Southern part of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



The Malayan Crestless Fireback inhabits the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. 

 It has been recorded as far north as Kedah (6° N.), but is apparently abundant neither 

 there nor in Perak. As we go southward we find more and more evidence of its 

 occurrence, especially in the low country of the west coast, throughout Selangor, Negri, 

 Sembilan, Malacca and Johore. I found no trace of this species in any of the central 

 mountains or elevated regions of the peninsula, nor on the east coast, although indeed 

 much of the latter region is still unexplored. My studies of the bird were made chiefly 

 in northern Johore. 



The locality "Java" is an error, and no confidence can be placed in the old skin 

 labels ''Singapore" and 'Tenang." These were the first settled parts, and in those days 

 stood for the whole region, just as the word " India" meant anything from Ceylon to 

 Tibet. There is no foundation for belief that this species ever inhabited either of these- 

 islands. In Sumatra it is found along the eastern coast, but does not extend into the 

 mountains of the interior. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 



A careful search through ornithological literature shows that our ignorance of the 

 life and habits of this bird is complete. Not a single fact has been recorded, and as far 

 as I know, only native Malays have heretofore had the good fortune to catch even 

 a glimpse of them in their native jungles. I went to Johore expecting to find this 

 species the commonest of all the pheasants of that region, always, of course, excepting 

 the junglefowl. But I found that while they shared with the latter the habit of 

 frequenting the vicinity of native villages and the more open jungle where the 

 half-domesticated buffaloes roamed, they were exceedingly shy, and I actually had 

 as much difficulty in getting even the barest outline of their life-histories as in the case 

 of the much rarer argus and bronze-tailed peacock pheasants. 



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