136 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



could hardly have been sustained for long, however, for the secondaries of the Argus 

 are more of a hindrance than a help. On the other hand, the weight of its great extent 

 of plumage is very little, the entire bird never weighing over four pounds. 



The sight of a much more interesting method of escape was vouchsafed me one day 

 when I was in my umbrella tent, hoping for some whitetailed pheasants to pass along 

 the little trail which they frequented in coming to water. From one direction appeared 

 a female Argus, which must have seen my tent during the few days it had been erected, 

 for it now showed no surprise at sight of it. From a great buttressed tree near by 

 a shower of leaves and twigs had announced the presence of a family of gibbons, and 

 through my ventilation hole in the top of the tent I could dimly see the shaking 

 branches. The Argus walked slowly along, pausing only once to feed, when a family 

 quarrel or other cause wrought the monkeys up to a pitch of great excitement. There 

 was a frantic chase and two big fellows came in wild pursuit, one after the other, hand 

 over hand down the lianas almost to the ground. This occurred close over the pheasant, 

 and at the very beginning of the outburst the bird crouched perfectly flat. It was 

 surprising to see how she obliterated herself. A fern or two was bent over her body 

 and broke up the symmetry of the curved back, while her head was flattened among the 

 moss, and her general plumage harmonized well with the reddish-brown dead leaves and 

 the parti-coloured caladiums which grew thickly hereabouts. The two apes passed close 

 to her and swung up again, never ceasing their wonderful progression until they were 

 out of sight. The Argus rose, fluffed up her feathers, shook herself and walked on, 

 stopping twice to reach under one wing and arrange a disturbed feather. I was 

 delighted to have had such a close view of the bird and yet not to have alarmed her. 

 She had plenty of time to escape the monkeys by running, and the fact that she 

 chose the method of effacement rather than flight proved that there was unquestionably 

 real protective power in her garb ; the only kind of proof which counts, that of 

 resignation of the bird's body to a passive attempt at escape by concealment. 



DAILY ROUND OF LIFE 



The food of birds is a subject which has been almost wholly neglected. Save 

 where it affects man's pocket-book directly through his grain and vegetables and fruit, 

 we know little or nothing in the case of whole groups of birds of the items of diet, items 

 which in many cases would throw light upon correlated phases of their life history. 

 I give a list of the crop contents of ten of the Argus which I secured, taken in 

 widely separated places, and which I think adequately represents the usual diet of 

 these birds. 



Males: i. Eight large black ants. 



2. Twenty ants of medium size; several dozen very small wire worms. 



3. Fifty-six ants of medium size and other insects ; many small seeds, two large ones. 



4. Thirty-odd medium brown ants ; sixteen seeds of several species. 



5. Twenty-eight ants and many small fruits. 



6. Six or eight varieties of small nuts and seeds. 

 Females : 7. Eighteen ants ; four seeds ; leaves and soft stems. 



8. Six big black ants ; eleven medium black ants ; one giant solitary ant ; four kinds of seeds ; 



comminuted leaves and petals. 



9. Several dozen ants ; a black and white wire worm ; numerous seeds. 

 10. Several black ants ; many seeds, nuts and tubers. 



