86 i On a new species of Pheasant from Tibet. [Oct. 



Phasianida, vel Pavonidee. 



Genus — new? Crossoptilon*, nob. Type Phasianus Crossoptilon, 

 nob. Hab, Tibet. 



I possess but one specimen of this large and striking bird. It is a 

 mature male, and was brought recently to Cathmandu by the Nipalese 

 envoy to Pekin, who has just returned here. The length, from the 

 tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, is from 38 to 40 inches, of which 

 the bill is 1 s and the tail 19 to 20 inches. 



A closed wing measures 12^ inches ; the tarsus 4J, and the central 

 toe 2^. The bill has the same length, whether taken from the gape or 

 from the front, and is three-eighths of an inch shorter than the head, 

 the latter being two inches complete. The bill is very strong, with the 

 general characters of that of Lophophorus, the tomial edge of the 

 upper mandible being even more scarped, and furnished with a small 

 tooth-like festoon. Its base is nude. The head and throat are clad in 

 feathers and simple. But the entire cheeks, from nostril to occiput, 

 are void of plumes, being occupied by the typical red and papillated 

 skin of the pheasant tribe, and in all that extent of development, which 

 more especially characterises the Indian Kdliches ( Leucomelanus J, 

 and the painted and Anther stiun species of China. Like the true 

 pheasant ( Colchicus ) , our bird has no crest of any kind, though the 

 feathers occupying the top of the head are of a peculiar kind, being 

 short, velvety, thickset, erect, with their slightly discomposed and 

 square points recurved a little to the front. 



The wings have no peculiarity. They are short, stiff, bowed and 

 rounded, as usual the sixth feather being the longest. The very 

 ample tail is most remarkable for the breadth of the plumes. Its 

 length is moderate, nor is there any of the extra elongation and nar- 

 rowing of the central feathers, which characterise the tropical pheasants. 

 There are 18 caudal plumes regularly and considerably gradated 

 throughout, and the general form of the tail is broadly convex, without 

 any symptom of the Galline compression and curve. The legs and feet 

 are well adapted for rapid movement on the ground, and have a form 

 and proportion, very similar to those of Leucomelanus •, and Satyrus. 

 The tarsi are nude, and biscaled before and behind: but the hinder 

 scales are smaller than the fore ones. The sides of the tarsi are 

 papillo-reticulate. The spur is sharp and curved. The lateral toes 

 are equal; the central long ; and the hind short and raised, as usual. 

 The nails are long and possess but little curve. It remains only to 

 notice the plumage of the bird, which constitutes indeed its most 

 * Kpoa<ros a fringe ; tttlKov a feather. 



