GERMAIN'S PEACOCK PHEASANT 



Polyplectron bicalcaratum germaini Elliot 



Names. — Specific : germaini, after M. Germain, who sent the first specimen from Cochin China. Engh'sh : 

 Germain's Peacock Pheasant. German : DestHcher Spiegelpfau. French : Chinquis or Eperonnier de Germain. 



Type.— Locality : Cochin China. Describer: D. G. Elhot. Place of Description: Ibis, 1866, p. 56. 

 Location of Type : Paris Museum. 



Brief Description.— Male and Female : Similar to the Grey Peacock Pheasant, but generally darker, 

 with the ocelli more numerous and brilliant. The whites less developed and the facial skin red rather than 

 yellowish. 



Range.— Cochin China and Siam, merging in the latter country with the typical northern bicalcaratum. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 



I HAVE had no opportunity of observing this species in a wild state. From the 

 vicinity of Bangkok I have specimens grading from extreme bicalcaratum to full- 

 plumaged germaini. So that while Assam birds and those from Cochin China easily 

 represent differences of specific value, yet intergradation requires us to reduce them to 

 subspecific rank. Indeed all the characters of both males and females which have been 

 supposed to differentiate germaini may occasionally be found in individual birds from 

 Burma. 



Germain's Peacock Pheasant is a highly melanized and intensely coloured extreme of 

 the northern form. This might be expected from the hot and humid character of its 

 haunts. The general plumage is darker, the whites being reduced in clearness and 

 extent. The ocelli are more numerous and brilliant in both sexes, and the flesh colours 

 are more intense. In the description of the type specimen oi germaini the words gula 

 alba show how unstable is this character which is supposed to distinguish bicalcaratum. 



Almost nothing has been recorded of the wild bird. M. Germain, who discovered 

 the species, writes as follows from Cochin China : " It is found principally in the 

 mountains of wooded regions, and is most abundant in the mountains near the Porte 

 Ka-ou-Ty-Vai, in the province of Bien-Hoa. It is not found near Saigou ; however, 

 the Amarnites bring some at times, which they have taken in snares where the 

 P. praelatus (Siamese fire-back) is found." 



It is not uncommon in captivity, and has been bred a number of times. The period 

 of incubation is twenty-one days, while the number of eggs and the habits in general are 

 identical with those of the Grey Peacock Pheasant. It is more sensitive to cold and less 

 hardy, however, and never so prolific, eight eggs in four layings being the maximum 

 obtained from a single hen in a season. Of six birds which have lived in the London 

 Zoological Gardens, one lived four years lacking a month, the average length of life 

 being a year and ten months. 



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