128 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



appearance, in France at least they are quite hardy, for during cold and snow, in a 

 closed shelter, they will endure a temperature of 40° without harm. The time of moult 

 is the season of greatest danger for the adult birds, for owing to the tremendous size of 

 the wing- and tail-feathers there is a correspondingly enormous drain on the whole 

 system. The bird droops and mopes all day, and ceases altogether the utterance of his 

 loud call. If cakes and custard are at this season added to his diet they will aid 

 materially in giving him strength successfully to endure the ordeal. 



M. Delaurier relates a remarkable circumstance connected with the removal of his 

 Argus Pheasants from Angouleme to Les Planes. He says : " Mes Argus ont 6t6 

 transfdres aux Planes il y a trois ans, et, depuis cette epoque, la mue du male, qui 

 s'opdrait rdguli^rement a Angouleme en Septembre et Octobre, ne se fait plus aux Planes 

 qu'en Avril et Mai, d'ou non fdcondation des ceufs pondus par la femelle." It is difficult 

 to account for this radical change in the time of the annual moult, and still more strange 

 that, whatever environmental factor was the cause, it did not exert a similar physio- 

 logical influence on the female. As it was, we can readily understand, as the author 

 implies, that under the new conditions it was impossible to breed them, the period of 

 reproduction occurring at such widely separate intervals each year in the two sexes. 



The goodly age to which these birds normally attain, as attested by the long-lived 

 Argus which have been kept in France for almost thirty years, is indicated by the slow 

 attainment of maturity in the life of the individual. They do not acquire fully adult 

 plumage until the third year, and are not dependable breeders until they are four or five. 

 And it is sometimes even later that they reach their maximum in extreme length of 

 the decorative plumes. The bird of three decades retained his full power and vigour, 

 and the length and general size of his wing- and tail-feathers exceeded those of all others 

 measured. The largest secondary wing-feathers were over 800 mm. in length, and the 

 two central tail-feathers were 1,420 mm. 



In February the male Argus Pheasants begin to call, occasionally during the day, 

 but more frequently at night. March sees the first indications of courtship. To quote 

 the inimitable phraseology of M. Dulaurier : " Au mois de mars, ses allures changerent, 

 il redressait les plumes pileuses de son front et de son cou, entr'ouvrait le bee, ramassait 

 k terre n'importe quoi, et courait en cercle dans la partie libre de la voli^re, en frappant 

 fortement ses pattes sur le sol." 



When the female approached, he would spread the long wing-feathers, hiding his 

 head behind them, and would erect the two great feathers of the tail ; at which time all 

 his plumage trembled and produced a noise which at first seemed to come from the 

 throat of the bird — a throat which " ressemblait a un veritable et superbe dcran vivant." 



Two is the complete set of eggs in the Argus, as with the peacock pheasants or 

 dperonniers, and this may be repeated two or three times. The eggs are deposited 

 usually two days apart, while very rarely three days may intervene. The first one or 

 two sets are taken away and placed under a hen, the Argus mother being permitted to 

 brood and rear the final set. The time of incubation is twenty-four or rarely twenty-five 

 days. The birds begin to lay about the first week in May, and if the settings are 

 removed at once, an interval of some five weeks will elapse between the succeeding 

 several layings. 



M. Dulaurier gives an interesting detailed account of one season's experience with 



