Tragopans and Monauls. 



15 



some food for them, and soon retreating under this 

 curious natural umbrella. 



Another interesting point in the habits of this pretty 

 Pheasant is the display of the cook. Being' anxious to 

 show his mate tliat he has all his eyes about him; so to 

 speak, he displays himself sideways, lifting one wing, 

 and lowering the other, and spreading his tail, which he 

 tilts up on a slant till it is level with the slanted wings, 

 thus giving as good a view as possible. 



This is the commonest and best known of the Peacock 

 Pheasants, as might be expected from its Indian habitat, 

 but the London Zoo has possessed two other species, both 



Amherst P/ieasaixTs. 



surpassing the present in beauty, handsorne though it is. 

 These are : Germain's Peacock-Pheasant (Polyplectron 

 germaini), which has a darker head and red skin round 

 the eye, while in the hen the eye spots are much better 

 developed than in that of the common bird ; and the 

 Malayan Peacook-Pheasant(Po/«/p/e(;fro» bicalcaratum), 

 whioli has the ground-colour of tlie plumage buflf thickly 

 speckled with black, a red face, and the crest of the 

 male tipped with purplish gi-een. This species, as its 

 name implies, comes from the Malayan Peninsula ; 

 Germain's from Cochin Cliina. 



The Peacock-Pheasants certainly deserve to be better 

 known. Their beauty, in the combination of bright 

 spots with a soberly-coloured ground, is quite peculiar 

 to them, and as they are the smallest of tne Pheasants 

 they are peculiarly suitable for aviaries. The other 

 species are even more brilliant than those I have 

 mentioned, and I hope that before long we shall have 

 opportunities of seeing these alive, but they seem very 

 scarce at present, even as museum specimens. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



TRAGOPANS AND MONAULS. 



The Tragopans, often miscalled Argus Pheasants by 

 sportsmen in India, are not really related to the true 

 Argus, but form a very distinct and easily recognisable 

 group. They are as big as a good- sized fowl, and of 

 rather heavy make, with drooping tails, shaped some- 

 what like a common hen's ; the legs and feet are rather 

 long and slender, and the bill very small. The males 

 are larger than the females, and have a pair of short 

 spurs, they also have the face and throat bare or only 

 thinly feathered, and possess a pair of fleshy horns on 

 the head and an expansible dewlap on the throat. 

 Both these appendages are much better developed at 

 the breeding season than at other times, and they are 

 not ordinarily noticeable, the 

 horns, in particular, commonly 

 lying hid in the full crest pos- 

 sessed by the male, which 

 usually lies fiat, and does not 

 alter the outline of the head- 

 feathering. 



When he displays himself 

 to the hen, however, the horns 

 rise erect, and the dewlap 

 expands longitudinally and 

 transversely into a great bib 

 or apron, decorated with the 

 most brilliant colours, but the 

 display does not last long. 



The Tragopau cock, however, 

 has two strings to his how, 

 and also displays his plumage 

 alone by a method very com- 

 mon in this family. The plum- 

 age is raised on one side of 

 the body and lowered on the 

 other, in a heroic attempt to 

 show the hen both sides at 

 once ! The said plumage is 

 well worth displaymg, as it is 

 a wonderful combination of 

 bright hues with delicate 

 '' markings and shading, very 

 difl&cult to describe fully. 

 Fortunately, however, the 

 general characteristics thereof 

 are easily conveyed in a few 

 words. The upper plumage 

 is intricately speckled with 

 black and brown, more or less 

 intermixed with red, and 



