MALAYAN CRESTLESS FIREBACK 
Acomus erythrophthalmus (Raffles) 
NAMES.—Generic: Acomus, dxopos, hairless, referring to the absence of a crest. Specific: evythrophthalmus, 
eov0odc, eruthros, reddish ; dp#aludc, opthalmos, eye ; with reference to the red facial skin. English: Malayan 
Crestless Fireback, Rufous-tailed Pheasant; French: Faisan a queue rouge; German: Gelbschwanziges 
Fasanhuhn; Native: Burong mérah mata (Red-eyed Bird); Kuang bertam or Mata mérah (Malay). 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION.—Male: Head dark brown ; lower back bronze-gold, changing posteriorly into bronze- 
red ; tail buff; remaining plumage steel-blue, freckled on the back, sides and wings with white; face scarlet. 
Female: Head dark brown; entire plumage, wings and tail shining steel-blue ; flight feathers and belly dull 
brownish-black. 
RANGE.—Southern part of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. 
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 
Tue Malayan Crestless Fireback inhabits the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. 
It has been recorded as far north as Kedah (6° N.), but is apparently abundant neither 
there nor in Perak. As we go southward we find more and more evidence of its 
occurrence, especially in the low country of the west coast, throughout Selangor, Negri, 
Sembilan, Malacca and Johore. I found no trace of this species in any of the central 
mountains or elevated regions of the peninsula, nor on the east coast, although indeed 
much of the latter region is still unexplored. My studies of the bird were made chiefly 
in northern Johore. 
The locality “Java” is an error, and no confidence can be placed in the old skin 
labels ‘‘ Singapore” and ‘‘Penang.” These were the first settled parts, and in those days 
stood for the whole region, just as the word “India” meant anything from Ceylon to 
Tibet. There is no foundation for belief that this species ever inhabited either of these 
islands. In Sumatra it is found along the eastern coast, but does not extend into the 
mountains of the interior. 
GENERAL ACCOUNT 
A careful search through ornithological literature shows that our ignorance of the 
life and habits of this bird is complete. Nota single fact has been recorded, and as far 
as I know, only native Malays have heretofore had the good fortune to catch even 
a glimpse of them in their native jungles. I went to Johore expecting to find this 
species the commonest of all the pheasants of that region, always, of course, excepting 
the junglefowl. But I found that while they shared with the latter the habit of 
frequenting the vicinity of native villages and the more open jungle where the 
half-domesticated buffaloes roamed, they were exceedingly shy, and I actually had 
as much difficulty in getting even the barest outline of their life-histories as in the case 
of the much rarer argus and bronze-tailed peacock pheasants. 
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