INTRODFOTIOX. 5 



are two species (Pavo cristatws and Pavo javanieus) — are also 

 exclusively inhabitants of India and its Archipelago, frequenting 

 forests and jungles, especially in hilly and mountainous dis- 

 tricts. Large flocks of these Birds, which may be seen in India, 

 constitute one of the most gorgeous natural objects that 

 zoologically rich region affords. 



Allied to the Pheasants are certain singular Birds, the Trago- 

 paus — called Horned Tragopans because a curious fleshy process, 

 or " horn," is placed on either side of the head behind the eye 

 (fig. 2). It is of different colours in different species, and can 

 be distended and erected, while there is a similarly distensible 

 " wattle " of different colours on the front of the throat. 



Fig. 1. 





The Argus Pheasant {Argus gigatiUits), 



These curious Birds have a more northern range than those 

 last before-mentioned. The Tragopans extend from the Hima- 

 layas into Southern China. 



Thus all the Birds which most closely resemble the Fowl and 

 the Pheasant — all those which have been hitherto noticed — 

 are inhabitants of Central or Southern Asia, while not one of 

 them is found in Africa. 



But a sufficiently well-known domestic Bird — the Guinea- 

 fowl {Numida meleagris) — is of African origin ; and at least ten 

 other species are to be found in the same Continent (including 

 Madagascar, which has two species), but nowhere else in the 

 world. The aspect of these creatures is very different from 

 that of the Asiatic Birds we have hitherto called attention to. 



