16 



Fancy Pheasants. 



varied with pale spots of different colours ; there is 

 always more or less black on the head and red on the 

 neck, and the lower plumage and flanks vary according 

 to the species ; so also does the expanded dewlap, hut 

 the horns seem always to be blue, the legs red or flesh- 

 colour, and the hill black. 



The hens are much alike, their plumage being closely- 

 grizzled light and dark, a style of plumage which, with 

 their characteristic shape, distinguishes them easily 

 from the hens of other Pheasants. They resemble each 

 other, however, so closely that their differences are best 

 appreciated by comparison. 



Indian Teagopan Piikasants. 



Young males exhibit an admixture of male and female 

 plumage. Tragopans are forest-haunting birds, keep- 

 ing to temperate regions in the Indian and Chinese 

 hills ; they feed much on green food, and are no;t at all 

 hard to tame. All the species have been kept in cap- 

 tivity, but only two are at all well known, these fortu- 

 nately being the most striking of all. 



The Indian Crimson Teagopan. 

 (Trcigopan satyra. ) 



The male of this species differs from the rest in having 

 the face thinly covered with small black feathers ; the 

 neck and lower plumage are rich red, and the body 

 generally is spnnkled with round white spots edged 

 with black, which, on the underparts especially, make 

 a beautiful contrast. The loose skin of the throat is 

 deep rich blue, but the bib when expanded is orange or 

 salmon-coloured, with blue bars at the sides. The light 

 portions of the hen's plumage are cinnamon and buff, 

 making the general hue a rich mossed brown. This 

 Tragopan inhabits the higher wooded ranges of the 

 Central and Eastern Himsflayas, breeding not far below 

 the snows. Many, I regret to say, are killed for their 

 skins ; it is more satisfactory to note that many have 

 also been sent to Europe, so that the bird is now no 

 rarity. In its native haunts it is very seldom seen, as it 

 keeps close to cover, and in captivity this habit should 

 be studied as also their predilection for green shoots, 

 fruit, bulbs, etc. 



Although well known from being an Indian bird, this 

 species is not so familiar in captivity as the other 

 Crimson Tragopan, which has been successfully bred in 

 the London Zoological Gardens. 



The Chinese Ceimson Teagopan. 

 (Tragopan Umminckii. ) 



This species bears a strong general resemblance to the 

 Indian bird, but the cock is distinguished by having 

 the blue skin of the face bare, and the bib, when ex- 

 panded, rich blue with scailet bars at the sides. The 

 cook's plumage is less showy than that of his ally, the 

 spots being larger, less well-defined, not black-edged 

 as a rule, and pale grey instead of white. I can give 

 no criterion for distinguishing the hens. 



The home of this species is South- West and Central 

 China, and it has done very well in captivity in Europe. 

 The male is stated to be very free with his display in the 

 spring, and I well remember my delight at witnessing it 

 in the London Zoo^the sudden appearance of the 

 brilliant bib is most striking, and the colours are 

 extraordinarily rich. 



The other I'ragopans are, as above stated, not at all 

 well known, but the group is so beautiful, and so well 

 adapted for captivity or even for showing, that is worth 

 while to mention them. The Black or Western Trago- 

 pan (Tragopan melanocephalus) inhabits the Western 

 Himalayas. The male shows little red except on the 

 neck, and the white spots with which his plumage is 

 adorned are so broadly surrounded by black, that a 

 general dark tone is given to the ground colour ; his bib 

 IS purple in the middle, flesh-coloured at the sides, and 

 spotted and eged with pale blue. The hen's plumage is 

 much greyer in tone than that of the Crimson Trag^an 

 hens. The Grey-breasted, or Blyth's Tragopan (Tra- 

 gopan blythi), which I have seen at the London Zoo, 

 comes from Assam. The cock is readily recognised by 

 his grey under-parts below the red neck, without spots, 

 and his orange face and throat passing into green below. 

 The hen is blacker above and less buff below than the 

 lied Tragopan females. Finally, Cabot's, or the Buff 

 Tragopan (Tragopan eaboti), from South-Eastern China, 

 is entirely buft below, and very heavily spotted with 

 that colour above. His bib is red in the centre, pink 

 and blue at the sides. The hen is said to resemble 

 those of the crimson species. 



