TIfE AMHERST PHEASANT. ^2H 



beautitu], Tlie iicc(jmp;inyiniif eiigravingj though giving 

 very correctly the gciienil character, necessarily fails in 

 imparting any idea, of the coloration of the male. The iridcs 

 are light, the naked skiti of the face is light blue, the 

 feathers of the forehead are green, Imt the long plumes 

 which form the crest are crimson. The tippet, which is so 

 characteristic a feature of the bird, is white, each feather 

 being margined with a dark green Ijand, and having a 

 second narrow baud at some distance frcim the tip. The 

 front of the neck, the breast, shoulders, back, and wing 

 coverts are of an excjuisite metallic green, each feather 

 being tipjjed with velvety bhick. The lower pai-t of the 

 l>reast and belly is white, the thighs and under tail coverts 

 mottled dark brown and white. The feathers of the rump 

 have the exposed parts bright sall'rou yellow. The tail 

 coverts are brown at the base, striped green and white in 

 the middle, and brilliant scarlet at the ends. The two upper 

 middle tail feathers have a light ground marked so as to 

 resemljle lace, with broad transverse bauds of green about an 

 inch apart. The other tail feathers have the inner webs 

 mottled black and white, the outer webs ■with curved green 

 bars, about tliree-(piarters of an inch apart. The bill is pale 

 greenish, and the feet and legs bluish lead colour. The female 

 closely resembles the hen of the last species {T. pirta), being 

 a rich chesnut brown, with b:i,rs of dtirk brown, which are 

 broader than those of the (i olden L'heasant hen, and the 

 under parts are lighter in colour; mcjreover, the bare skin 

 of the face is pale blue like that of the male, liut much 

 smaller. The size of this spei'ies is simiewhat larger than 

 that of its close ally, the tiolden IMieasant. In the male 

 the adult ]ilumage is not assumed until the autumn of the 

 second year. 



AVhen .Mr. Gould gave his de.MTiption of this pheasant 

 in his "Birds of Asia," the ma.le <.iil\' was known, and he 

 wrote: "it would givi' me great pleasure to see :i female 

 of this hue bird, iind eveiy ornithologist would lie truly 



