MALAY PEACOCK PHEASANT 8i 



three hawks fly to this general feeding-ground, each with a shell in its claws, there to 

 break it open or at least to tear out the inmate and devour it. 



It was in relation to these snail-shells that the Peacock Pheasant came into the 

 picture, and from concealed points of vantage I saw as many as five birds at once, 

 feeding in the snail zone. This occurred several days in succession, so there was a 

 certainty as to its being a regular habit. Once, and once only, I saw a bird carrying a 

 shell in its mouth, but only to save it from being seized by another. Fortunately I had 

 learned by experience not to jump too quickly at conclusions, and instead of writing in 

 my journal that the Malay Peacock Pheasants showed a strong partiality for mollusks, I 

 watched them carefully with my most powerful binoculars, recorded my suspicions, and 

 then confirmed these by shooting two birds and examining their mouth, oesophagus and 

 crop. They were feeding merely on the fly larvae and pupae which filled the shattered 

 shells, the cause of this being the bits of decaying mollusk tissue still adhering to the 

 whorls. 



Here again was another instance of unconscious interrelation of jungle creatures ; 

 the babblers unintentionally posing as the best friends of these birds; the hawks all 

 unknowingly bringing daily manna to their pheasant brethren. 



Whether because of the season or not, I saw these pheasants usually in pairs, the 

 group of five being unique and not equalled on any other occasion. Although wary, and 

 ready to dash out of sight at the least hint of danger, they recovered much more quickly 

 than birds more accustomed to the dangers from human beings. Gunshots can mean 

 nothing to them, and although both the Sakais and Malays trap them, this could not 

 spread fear through the race, nor could it be connected by them with the two-legged 

 creatures who occasionally passed through their haunts. The almost complete restriction 

 of travel to the waterways is another factor keeping the terror of mankind from them. 

 Whenever I frightened away a bird from a feeding-place, I could feel certain that by 

 waiting a short time it would return, and give me opportunity of observing it as long as 

 I could resist the torture of the leeches and the biting insects. 



I never saw one of the birds in the act of crowing, but from very strong circumstantial 

 evidence I can say that the voice resembles that of the grey peacock pheasant, but is 

 still louder and more raucous, and uttered in early morning. At least I have never heard 

 it either at mid-day or in the cool of the afternoon. It escapes always on foot, and the 

 only time I ever saw a wing spread was when a bird scaled to earth from its perch upon 

 a swaying liana on the opposite side of a glade, where it had been crowing for many 

 minutes. 



CAPTIVITY 



This species reached Europe alive at least as early as 1870, and probably much 

 earlier, and has since then been bred a number of times, depositing two eggs at each 

 laying, and in all other respects differing in no way from its more common congeners. 

 There is a record of one of these birds living almost three years and a half. I captured 

 several alive, and had no difficulty in keeping them in health in Singapore on a diet of 

 rice and other grain. 



VOL. IV ^ 



