GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND .ASIA. 43 



is careful to have the hen in front of him, in some 

 cases every now and then pushes his head between 

 two of his quills to see what effect he is producing.. 



The said effect, in the cases I have observed,, 

 was absolutely nil ; but very likely a captive hen, 

 confined always with the male, is bored and indif- 

 ferent. I did not see the peeping manoeuvre on 

 his part, but traces of its frequent performance 

 may be found in the worn quills in skins. 



The Argus does not seem to fight at all, and has 

 been observed to give up his cherished parlour to 

 an aggressive Fire-back pheasant without a 

 struggle ; but our old bird at the Calcutta Zoo- 

 logical Garden would fly at a hand presented to 

 him, striking with bill and feet. In a wild state 

 the males answer each other's calls. The note is 

 a very curious one for a bird, a sort of double 

 whoop, somewhat recalling the note of the Hoolock 

 Apes, though not so rapidly repeated as theirs. 

 The hen has a note of several syllables, more 

 quickly uttered, but of somewhat the same type.. 



She seems to lay at any time, the eggs being 

 seven or eight in number and reddish bufi in tint. 

 Although the nest is, as usual, on the ground, the 

 young fledge sufficiently to fly and take to a perch 

 in a very few days. 



The Argus, as it can hardly ever be seen wild,. 

 to say nothing of being shot, is rather out of court 

 as a game-bird ; but it has considerable value 

 as a menagerie specimen, live birds fetching 

 about thirty rupees each in Calcutta. It seems 

 to me, therefore, that snaring in such a way as 

 to cause its death should be prohibited, and its 

 capture in any way regulated, as, if preserved, the 



