Desiderata for European Collections. 603 



Menageries; in all cases therefore where living specimens 

 cannot be conveniently obtained, dried skins, with the skull 

 and bones of the feet (freed from soft parts) remaining will 

 be desirable. 



17, Of birds, those kinds which approach nearest in their 

 nature and habits to the domestic poultry are much desired in 

 Menageries, and from their importance are entitled to our 

 interest and attention. Colonel Sykes has remarked in the 

 proceedings of the Zoological Society that the Phasianus 

 leucomelonos, Phasianus lineatus, and Phasianus ignatius are 

 intermediate species between the pheasants and the com- 

 mon fowl ; so indeed they really appear to be, and therefore 

 may become useful additions to the farm yard. The first of 

 these birds, which is entirely black except the round tips 

 of the feathers on the rump, is most abundant in the forests 

 of Assam; the male bird has a crest of a few black 

 feathers, the female is brown, and scarcely differs from the 

 appearance of the common domestic hen, except by the 

 naked spot round the eye, on which her character as a 

 pheasant depends. "Since this was written, a pair of these 

 birds, now called Sophophorus Cuverii, have been received 

 from Captain Bogle, the Commissioner of Assam, for the 

 Zoological Society, along with two species of Biverra and 

 several other interesting birds, and Mammalia, now deposited 

 in the Barrackpore menagerie, till arrangements are entered 

 into for their despatch to Regent's Park. 



18. The Phasianus lineatus, or lineated pheasant, is as 

 abundant in Kemaon as the former is in Assam ; so abundant, 

 that in some ravines, particularly near villages and cultivated 

 fields, almost every bush contains one. In this species the 

 feathers are nearly all lance-shaped as in the common 

 cock, and variegated with grey and black. 



The third species, P. ignatius, belongs to the higher parts 

 of the Himalaya. 



19. The Java hen, Gallus furcutus, and the Siam hen, 



4 i 



