236 



AVES— ORDER GALLIFORMES. 



-LoBED Pheasant (io6iop/iasis 



tinted gem, and then dropping stone-like, with closed wings, into the abyss 

 below.'' 



The fire-backed pheasants (Acomus and Lophura) are inhabitants of the 

 mountains of the Indo-Chinese provinces and the Malayan Peninsula and 

 Islands. On the h igh mountains of North- Western Borneo, on the Lawas River 

 and the region of Mount Dulit occurs one of the most remarkable of all game 



birds, the lobed pheasant (Lobwpha- 

 sis), which has no less than thirty- 

 two feathers in the tail, which, as Mr. 

 Ogilvie-Grant says, is " by far the 

 largest number of tail-feathers in the 

 Phasianid(E. One of the eared phea- 

 sants {CrossoptUum miritum) has 

 twenty-four, and the smallest num- 

 ber occurs in the painted quails 

 {Excalfactoria), which have only 

 eight ! " The female of the lobed 

 pheasant, however, has twenty- 

 eight feathers only. The horns and 

 wattles on the head show some sort 

 of likeness to the naked ornaments 

 found in the tragopans, but the style of plumage is in other respects entirely 

 different. Like the tragopans, the lobed pheasant inhabits the mountains, 

 but does not extend beyond 2,000 feet, and, according to Mr. C. Hose, it hves 

 in the forest, and has the ways of a jungle-fowl. 



In these birds, which are remarkable for the long white tufts on the side of 

 the head, whence tlie name of "eared" pheasants, the sexes are alike in 

 colour. They are large birds, inhabiting the high mountains 

 of Tibet, Western China, and Manchuria. They live in the 

 woods at high elevations, and assemble in large flocks. 



The best-known species of Gennceiis is the silver pheas- 

 ant, so often seen in aviaries. The kalijes inhabit the 

 Himalayas and the hills of Assam and Burmah. In the 

 Himalayas they are found at different elevations, from 1,000 up to 

 9,C00 feet. They are easily reared in captivity, and large numbers are snared 

 by the natives. The black-backed kalij is described by Mr. 

 Gammie, a well-known Himalayan naturalist, as being veiy 

 tame when it is found away from its native forests, which it 

 does not often quit. He says : — " In fine weather, the male 

 often makes a sharp, drumming noise by beating his wings 

 against his sides, somewhat after the style of the wing-fiapping of a domestic 

 cock, preparatory to crowing from some elevated place ; but instead of the 

 cook's few leisurely flaps, the kalij strikes oftener and smarter, producing a 

 sound more like drumming than flapping. This noise is heard at all seasons 

 of the year, but most frequently before the setting in of the rainy season ; 

 at other times just before a fall of rain. Hence the natives look on the 

 drumming of the kalij as a sure sign of approaching rain." The Himalayan 

 kalijes, even m a wild state, interbreed, while in the species from the 

 Burmese provinces, intermediate forms also occur, which render it difficult to 

 draw the line between the different species. 



The koklass or pucras pheasants {Fvcrasia) are found in the Himalayan 

 chain from Afghanistan eastwards to Tibet, and the mountain ranges of 



Tlie Eared 



Pheasants. — 



Genus 



Crossoplilmn. 



The KaUj 



Pheasants.— 



Genus Gennceus. 



