GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND ASIA. 47 



has a most unpleasant call, a kind of harsh barking 

 cackle, and will often reply to a gunshot with it. 

 In showing off to the female he manages to display 

 all his beauties at once, by raising one wing and 

 lowering the other, at the same time spreading and 

 slanting his tail, so as to exhibit all his spots on 

 the side turned towards her. He also displays 

 frontally crouching down with spread erected tail 

 and wings set out on each side. In captivity he is 

 true to one mate, and she displays an interesting 

 method of protecting her chicks, keeping her broad 

 tail spread horizontally as a sort of natural um- 

 brella to hide and shelter them as they follow her. 

 They, in their turn, have the instinct to follow 

 closely so strongly developed that when specimens 

 were hatched under a Bantam fowl at the London 

 Zoological Gardens, they persisted in running close 

 behind her. In this way they got more kicks than 

 cover, and it was not tiU the Peacock-Pheasant 

 herself hatched chicks that the habit was under- 

 stood. 



The eggs of the Peacock-Pheasant are buff- 

 coloured and about two inches long ; tame birds 

 only lay two. The wild ones nest about 

 Ma^\ 



Malayan Peacock-Pheasant. 



Polyplectrum bicalcaratum, Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, Vol. 

 XXII, p. 357- 



The male of this is speckled with black instead of cream- 

 colour, and has a longer crest, glossed with purple and green. 

 The hen is also easily distinguishable by the dark instead of light 

 speckling. This species inhabits the Malay Peninsula. 



