GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND ASIA. 2'] 



colours. The cock also shows off by slanting 

 himself over, like a common fowl. 



Tn most male birds of this genus the face is bare, 

 and they are provided with spurs. The coloura- 

 tion of this sex is very complicated and beautiful, 

 but it is not necessary to describe it fully, as the 

 different species are readily recognisable. The 

 hens have no fleshy appendages or crest, and are 

 feathered up to the eyes ; they have shorter tails 

 than the cocks, and no spurs. Their plumage 

 is a very intricate pepper-and-salt mixture, a 

 great deal easier to recognise than to describe. 



Tragopans inhabit hill forest at a high elevation, 

 and are great skulkers, avoiding observation as 

 much as possible. They spend a great deal of 

 their time in trees, feeding on leaves and berries 

 to a very large extent. 



The note of the cock Tragopans is most remark- 

 able, being compared to a bleat or a bellow rather 

 than a crow, but they are silent birds, as a rule, 

 except in the breeding season. They are not easy 

 to shoot, and sometimes rather poor eating, but 

 for their peculiar beauty of plumage they are 

 unrivalled. Only five species are known, all Indian 

 or Chinese. Our birds are often called Argus 

 Pheasants, but the real Argus is a very different 

 bird, as will be shown later. 



