LOPHOPHORUS L'HUYSI, a. Geoff, sl-hu. 



De l'Huys's Monal. 



Lophophorus VHuysi, J. Verr. et A. Geoff. St.-Hil. Bull. Soc. Accl, ser. 2, 1866, torn. iii. p. 223, pl.-Sclat. Proc. 

 of Zool. Soc, 1868, p. 1. pi. l.-G. R. Gray, Handl. of Birds, part ii. p. 261.-Elliot, Mon. Phas., vol. i. 

 pi. xix.— David, Nouv. Archiv. du Mus., torn. vii. Bull. p. 11. 



When the exclusiveness of the Chinese authorities ceased to exist, and their great country with its many 

 varied aspects was opened to the world, naturalists presumed that there would be found numerous objects 

 in each department of science of the greatest interest ; but certainly ornithologists were not prepared 

 for the discovery of the splendid bird forming the subject of the present memoir. We all thought and 

 believed that the beautiful Himalayan Lophophorus Impeyams could not be excelled in the richness of its 

 metallic colouring by a species from any other country, and moreover were inclined to suppose that that 

 species was the sole member of its genus. Here, however, we were deceived; for the present bird is a suc- 

 cessful rival to its Himalayan brother. In size it is about a third larger, wbile its flowing crest is still more 

 beautifully coloured. It is to the distantly located French Consuls and their still more enterprising mission- 

 aries that we are indebted for our knowledge of the existence of the Lophophorus VHuysi, its godfathers being 

 MM. Jules Verreaux and Albert GeofFroy St.-Hilaire— just as the venerable Latham was of the L. Impeyanus, 

 which he named in honour of the wife of one of our Indian judges. 



As might be expected, skins of this bird realized a large sum for their collectors. The British Museum 

 became the possessor of the first pair, which unfortunately are not in good condition ; subsequently, on the 

 return of Pere David, Mr. Elliot obtained a second pair. We then, for the first time, saw the bird in all its 

 glory; and I must here express my thanks to Mr. Elliot for his liberality in intrusting these skins to my care 

 for the purpose of figuring them in the present work. The figures, which are about two thirds the size of 

 life, will give but a faint idea of the colouring of the originals ; still I trust the Plate will be regarded with 

 interest. 



All that is known with respect to the habits and the localities frequented by the Lophophorus VHuysi is 

 embodied in Mr. Elliot's account of it in his ' Monograph of the Phasianidce,' which I take the liberty of 

 transcribing. 



"This magnificent bird, the second known species of the genus which had hitherto contained the most 

 brilliant member of the Phasianidae (as in the beauty of its rich metallic plumage it defied comparison with 

 any other of the family), was first made known to ornithologists by MM. J. P. Verreaux and Albert Geoffroy 

 St.-Hilaire, who described it in the publication above referred to. It was procured by M. Dabry, French 

 Consul at Han-Keow, who stated that it came from the ' diocese of Moupin, at the foot of the mountains of 

 Chinese Thibet, and watered by the upper Yank-tse-Kiang.' This discovery is most interesting to science 

 on account of the genus having thus far comprised but a single species, described for the first time in 1790 

 by the naturalist Latham in his c Index Ornithologicus ' under the name of Phasianus impeyanus, which 

 inhabits the mountains of the Himalaya, in a climate analagous to that where the present bird is found, as it 

 frequents elevated and inaccessible regions, sometimes covered with snow. . . . Let us hope that M. Dabry 

 will not delay to send to the Jardin d'Acclimatation some living examples of the wonderful creature which 

 he has discovered, and that very soon we shall see it in company with the Lophophorus impeyanus, of which, 

 on account of its beauty, it may justly be styled a rival. 



" As yet the hope expressed in the above has not been fulfilled ; for no living examples have reached 

 any part of Europe, and the single pair which were the type of the species remained unique in the British 

 Museum, where they were deposited, until another pair in even finer plumage were received at the museum 

 in the Jardin des Plantes from the Missionary Pere David, who procured them also in Chinese Thibet. 



"In size the present species is even larger than its relative the L. impeyanus, and must present a most 

 beautiful sight to the sportsman when, suddenly flushed, it rises on the wing displaying the rich metallic hues 

 of its burnished plumage flashing in the rays of the sun. Its crest is much fuller than that of the Monal, and 

 the long feathers have their tips of a rich purple colour, continually changing to a more brilliant or deeper 

 shade as it is moved from or towards the light. 



" Male. — Head and lengthened crest green, with rich purple reflections ; back of the neck and the upper 

 part of the back metallic red; wings green, with blue and purple reflections; primaries brown; rump and 

 part of the tail-coverts white, the centre of the feathers green ; tail and long coverts green, with spots of 

 white on the outer webs ; entire underparts black, with rich green reflections on the margins of the feathers ; 

 bill horn-colour ; tarsi and feet lead-colour. 



" Female. — Brown, mottled with black ; rump white. 



"Habitat. — Moupin in Chinese Thibet {Dabry) ; Llassa in Thibet (,/. ./. Stone):' 



The figures represent the two sexes, about two thirds the size of life, 



