154 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



the wonderful patterns which characterize the adult. The head and neck, delayed as 

 usual in their moult, more nearly approximate the appearance of the old bird. 



The mantle is black with irregular reddish-brown mottling, and differs from the 

 corresponding feathers of the female in having a scattering of long, angular, pale buff 

 lines. There is scarcely any difference in the back and wing-coverts. The rump of the 

 young male is much warmer, black with several transverse bands of reddish-brown 

 mottling. 



The outer primaries are rich chestnut, dotted on the outer web and thickly mottled 

 on the inner web with black. The inner primaries are orange rufous, with a lighter 

 orange-buff streak along the outside of the shaft. The outer web is dotted with round 

 and elongated black spots, these being blurred by deep chestnut stains. The inner web 

 is greyish proximally and thickly dotted along the inner margin and the extremity of 

 the feather. We can easily trace the direction of moult from the inner primary outward 

 by the gradually maturing of pigment and pattern, reflecting the changes in the blood 

 corresponding to the successively appearing feathers. In the latest incoming primaries, 

 such as the 8th or 9th, the feather in some advanced individuals in this plumage is 

 quite pale grey, the spots on the outer web distinct, black, framed in chestnut, and there 

 may even be a fairly well-developed zone of white specks on the inner web. This, 

 however, is never found on more than one or two primary feathers at this age. The 

 second series or secondaries are decidedly feminine, black hierogiyphed with dots and 

 angular spots of pale buff, the outer web tinged with orange near the shaft ; the inner 

 web black with an indistinct greyish-white network. In this series, too, the direction 

 of moult is clearly revealed. The central tail-feathers differ but little from the 

 others both as to colour and length. The ventral plumage is like the female but 

 more rufous. 



Second Year Male. — The slow development of the Argus Pheasant is shown 

 in this plumage. All the adult characters become apparent, but only imperfectly 

 developed. As might be expected, where there is considerable latitude in moult as 

 in many other tropical birds, there is great variation in this plumage. This is especially 

 true as regards the development of the ocelli on the secondaries, the pattern of the rump 

 and the central tail-feathers. In the case of the first character, there is an important 

 difference both in size and pattern compared with the adult. 



The primaries of this plumage are about twenty per cent, below the full adult 

 length, the outer secondaries thirty-three per cent., and the inner ones often forty 

 per cent, shorter. The ocelli are present on the latter but are small, dull in colour, and 

 the black frames are very seldom complete, forming comma-shaped instead of round 

 eyes. In early moulting birds they are especially imperfect on the terminal half of the 

 feather, dying out in the shape of an olive yellow spot, and finally a small chestnut 

 spot in the centre of a black area. 



Instead of the long, delicate vinaceous-buff feathers of the rump are found small 

 stiffer feathers, with a similar ground colour but with the spots coalesced, often forming 

 solid transverse bands, mottled centrally with chestnut. The median tail-feathers 

 always extend beyond the others, but to a comparatively short distance compared to 

 these feathers in the adult. While the other rectrices may almost equal those of the 



