8o GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND ASIA. 



The Fire-backed Pheasant. 



Lophura rufa, Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, Vol. 

 IV, p. 87. 



After such a terribly mixed up lot as the pen- 

 cilled kaleeges, it is a relief to come across a bird 

 which is very distinct from everything else, as is 

 the present one. In its general appearance the 

 Fireback resembles the shorter-tailed kaleeges,. 

 but the male has a different style of crest, this 

 being erect and brushlike, and composed of feathers 

 which are bare-shafted at the base. There does 

 not, indeed, seem much reason for separating the 

 few species of Firebacks from the kaleege genus. 

 In the male of our only species, the general colour 

 of the plumage is metallic-purple ; the lower back 

 is fiery copper-red, and the two centre pairs of tail- 

 feathers and part of the next pair are white. 

 There are also some white streaks on the sides of 

 the body. 



The hen is chestnut-coloured with white edges 

 to the feathers of the neck in front ; below this the 

 feathers are black, still with white edges, and the 

 pattern extends along the flanks ; the centre of 

 the belly is plain white. 



The bare skin of the face is bright blue and the 

 eyes red ; the biU all white in the male, but brown 

 below in the female. The legs and feet are bright 

 red. 



The cock is a large bird, measuring twenty- 

 eight inches in length, of which less than a foot 

 goes to the tail ; the wing is almost a foot long, 

 and the shank nearly five inches. The hen is 



