INTRODUCTION xxvii 



KEY TO THE GENERA OF PHEASANTS 



Family PHASIANIDAE 



Subfamily Perdicinae* 

 Tail moult centrifugal. 



Tail of 14 feathers Ithagenes. 



Tail of 1 8 feathers Tragopan. 



Subfamily Phasianinae 

 Tail moult centripetal. 

 Tail not compressed. 



Tail slightly rounded Lophophoras. 



Tail strongly graduated. 

 Both sexes crested. 



Tail of 16 feathers Pucrasia. 



Tail of 18 feathers Catreus. 



No crests present. 



<Js with normal rumps ; §s dominantly rufous on lateral rectrices .... Syrmaticus. 



•(Js with disintegrated rump plumage ; $s not dominantly rufous on lateral rectrices . Pkasianus. 

 Tail compressed. 



Rectrices long and narrow ............ Chrysolophus. 



Rectrices short and broad. 

 Rectrices fewer than 18. 



A fleshy comb present Gallus. 



No fleshy comb present. 



Rectrices 14 in number ........... Acomus. 



Rectrices 16 in number. 



Facial area red ; feathery crests, $s with mantle not chestnut .... Gennaeus. 



Facial area blue, or, if red, with stalked crest in (J and chestnut mantle in $ . Lophura. 

 Rectrices more than 18. 



Rectrices from 20 to 24 Crossoptilon. 



Rectrices from 28 to 32 Lobiophasis. 



Subfamily Argusianinae 

 Tail moult from 3rd pair, outward and inward. 

 Ocellations on both wings and tail. 



Rectrices 16 Chalcurus. 



Rectrices 20 to 24 Polyplectron. 



Ocellations on the wings alone. 



Secondaries normal, not longer than primaries Rheinardius. 



Secondaries enormously developed Argusianus. 



Subfamily Pavoninae 

 Tail moult from the 6th pair, outward Pavo. 



DISTRIBUTION 

 At the present day the natural distribution of pheasants is confined to Asia and 

 certain of the East India Islands. They are found from the coast of the Black Sea in 

 the west, to Japan in the east. A line extending eastward from the northerly shores 

 of the Caspian, the Aral Sea, Lake Balkash and north-eastern Manchuria delimits their 

 northern haunts. Throughout most of Persia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and all except 

 eastern Tibet, pheasants are unknown ; while they are generally distributed throughout 

 Korea, Japan, India, Ceylon, China, Manchuria, Burma, Siam, Indo-China, the Malay 

 Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Palawan, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbana and Flores. 

 This corresponds very closely with the primary faunal division of the Oriental Region, 



* This key does not cover the Perdicinae groups which are not included in this work. 



