LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES xiii 



Photogravure 73. DANCING ARENA AND ESCAPE TRAIL OF BORNEAN 



ARGUS PHEASANT Facing page 140 



Photographs by William Beebe. 



The male Argus Pheasant chooses a spot usually on a hill-top, clears it of all vegetation, 

 and uses it as a display arena. The first attempts of young birds sometimes result in failure, 

 as when they have the area all cleared except for some stout growth or root which defies all 

 attempts at removal. Such a condition seems invariably to result in desertion for a more 

 satisfactory site. One of the most important features is the escape trail, a low tunnel through 

 the densest side of the glade, through which the bird can flee at once on the approach of danger. 



Photogravure 74. DANCING ARENA, AND ARGUS FEATHERS IN HEAD- 

 DRESS OF DYAK DANCER .... Facingpage 142 



Photographs by William Beebe. 



When the display arena is completed it is roughly circular, and about three yards in diameter. 

 The male takes up its position in the centre and calls until a hen Argus responds and approaches. 

 He then ceases calling, and the courtship display begins. 



The native Dyaks trap the Argus Pheasant in large numbers, both for food and to use the 

 feathers for decoration. The large wing-plumes are sewed into feather mantles, head-dresses and 

 war totems. The Dyak name for the Argus is ruai. 



Photogravure 75. DANCING - GROUND OF A FULL-GROWN ARGUS 

 PHEASANT, AND NATIVE SPRING - TRAP WHICH 

 CAUGHT THE BIRD Facingpage 144 



Photographs by William Beebe. 



The Dyak hunters have two ways of securing Argus Pheasants : they sometimes drive a 

 sharpened bamboo stake into the centre of the arena, which the bird attempts unceasingly to 

 uproot, and in so doing ultimately cuts its own throat ; or a spring-trap is set with the treadle 

 concealed in the escape trail, and sprung by the bird the first time it passes. 



Photogravure ^6. CEYLON HOME OF THE PEAFOWL . . Facingpage 166 



Photographs by William Beebe. 



In the open, grassy country of south Ceylon, with half-filled lagoons here and there, only a 

 few miles within from the ford used by bullock carts, I saw my first wild peacock and found its 

 nest. Early one morning, in the scope of the upper photograph, I saw peafowl, wild pig, spoon- 

 bills, pelicans, flamingoes, elephants and axis deer, and heard barking deer and junglefowl. Amid 

 such a natural zoological park these splendid birds made their home. 



Photogravure ^t. NESTING GROUND AND ENTRANCE TO PEAFOWL'S 



NEST ......... Facing page 172 



Photographs by William Beebe. 



A peahen's nest in south Ceylon was guarded by dangerous water buffalo, which fed slowly 

 over the grassy plains, always accompanied by a ring of white herons or cattle egrets. 



The nest itself was well hidden in a tangle of underbrush, surrounded by coarse, high grass, 

 over which the peahen leaped when leaving or returning to her nest, the barrier being thus 

 unbroken by any worn track which might reveal the frequent passage of the parent bird. 



Photogravure 78. NEST AND EGG OF PEAFOWL IN SOUTHERN CEYLON 



Photographs by William Beebe. Facing page 174 



The nest of a wild peahen is merely a depression worn by the weight of the bird in whatever 

 material lies upon the chosen spot. A few feathers may become loosened from the breast of the 

 sitting bird, and she may break off any twigs or stems which interfere with her freedom of 

 movement, but no outside material is brought or added to the simple home. 



As the photograph shows, the first egg of the set had been laid ; the full complement would 

 be from four to eight. The eggs are white, but the coarse, pitted surface results in their soon 

 becoming stained and brown in colour. 



