TIBETAN TRAGOPAN 



Tragopan blythi molesworthi Baker 



A single male Tragopan was collected by Captain Molesworth during a recent 

 expedition to the Mishmi Hills. It came from Dengan La, near Tawang, at eight 

 thousand feet elevation, a state under Tibetan rule, but only forty miles north of the 

 Assam border. In the " Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club," vol. xxxv. 1914, 

 p. 18, Mr. Baker describes this specimen as follows — 



ADULT Male : Differs from Tragopan blythi blythi in having the whole upper parts much darker in general 

 tint, the rufous spots much browner, and the buff vermiculations narrower and less distinct ; the white spots are 

 smaller though equally numerous. Below, the red of the breast is confined to a comparatively narrow gorget, 

 descending only a short way below the neck on to the breast, and the whole of the rest of the lower parts are much 

 paler than in Tragopan blythi blythi, the pale centres scarcely showing at all in contrast to the surrounding parts of 

 the feather. Both legs show powerful but short blunt spurs about 10 mm. in length. 



Total length about 530 mm.: bill, from front, 19; wing, 250; tail, 195; tarsus, 76; middle toe and 

 claw, 76 mm. 



Habitat: Tibet. 



TYPE : Male in the Museum of the Bombay Natural History Society. Dengan La, 8000 feet, Tibet, 

 March 30, 19 14. 



Capt. Molesworth, collector. 



OBSERVATION : This bird has been named in honour of the collector, Captain Molesworth. 



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