﻿BURMESE 
  BARRED-BACKED 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Syrmaticus 
  humiae 
  burmanicus 
  (Oates) 
  

  

  NAMES.— 
  Specific 
  : 
  burmanicus, 
  after 
  its 
  native 
  country, 
  Burma. 
  English 
  : 
  Burmese 
  Barred-backed 
  Pheasant. 
  

   Native: 
  Tit 
  (Burmese), 
  Wuri 
  (Kachin). 
  

  

  Brief 
  DESCRIPTION. 
  — 
  Male 
  : 
  Similar 
  to 
  Hume's 
  pheasant, 
  but 
  with 
  the 
  white 
  fringe 
  on 
  the 
  lower 
  back 
  and 
  

   rump 
  twice 
  as 
  wide 
  (5 
  mm.) 
  ; 
  much 
  more 
  chestnut 
  on 
  the 
  wing-bars 
  and 
  the 
  tail-feathers, 
  and 
  the 
  steel 
  blue 
  of 
  the 
  

   Manipur 
  bird 
  rather 
  blue 
  green. 
  Female 
  : 
  Indistinguishable 
  from 
  the 
  female 
  of 
  humiae. 
  

  

  Range. 
  — 
  Burma, 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Irrawaddy, 
  from 
  Ruby 
  Mines 
  to 
  the 
  Southern 
  Shan 
  States. 
  Yunnan. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

   In 
  Burma 
  proper 
  this 
  pheasant 
  has 
  been 
  recorded 
  from 
  Ruby 
  Mines 
  on 
  the 
  north, 
  

   south 
  through 
  Mandalay 
  and 
  both 
  the 
  Northern 
  and 
  Southern 
  Shan 
  States. 
  I 
  found 
  

   it 
  both 
  in 
  Myitkyina 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  adjacent 
  part 
  of 
  Yunnan. 
  It 
  grades 
  into 
  humiae 
  

   westward 
  through 
  Katha 
  and 
  the 
  Upper 
  Chindwin. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  Our 
  ignorance 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  in 
  its 
  wild 
  home, 
  of 
  its 
  life 
  history 
  and 
  of 
  its 
  food 
  and 
  

   breeding 
  is 
  almost 
  complete. 
  The 
  few 
  white 
  men 
  who 
  have 
  seen 
  it 
  have 
  been 
  sportsmen 
  

   whose 
  only 
  interest 
  was 
  to 
  get 
  it 
  dead 
  in 
  their 
  hands 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  possible. 
  

  

  My 
  first 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  Burmese 
  Pheasant 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  boundary 
  of 
  Myitkyina 
  

   in 
  northern 
  Burma. 
  

  

  I 
  was 
  one 
  day 
  waiting 
  for 
  some 
  kaleege 
  pheasants 
  to 
  put 
  in 
  an 
  appearance 
  at 
  their 
  

   regular 
  drinking-place, 
  and 
  was, 
  as 
  usual, 
  the 
  subject 
  of 
  abuse 
  by 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  squirrels 
  and 
  

   a 
  mob 
  of 
  laughing 
  thrushes, 
  when 
  a 
  new 
  voice 
  was 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  general 
  hubbub. 
  I 
  

   thought 
  at 
  first 
  it 
  was 
  another 
  species 
  of 
  squirrel 
  — 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  rapidly 
  uttered 
  harsh 
  

   chucks 
  — 
  very 
  evidently 
  of 
  alarm 
  and 
  suspicion. 
  It 
  came 
  from 
  a 
  low 
  tree 
  near 
  by, 
  and 
  

   I 
  soon 
  discovered 
  the 
  author, 
  for 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  minutes 
  a 
  sudden 
  beating 
  of 
  wings 
  brought 
  

   a 
  long-tailed 
  pheasant 
  into 
  full 
  view. 
  It 
  alighted 
  on 
  a 
  low 
  stump, 
  gave 
  one 
  glance 
  in 
  

   my 
  direction, 
  uttered 
  a 
  single 
  loud 
  chack 
  ! 
  and 
  dashed 
  off 
  through 
  leaves 
  and 
  twigs. 
  

  

  I 
  neither 
  saw 
  nor 
  heard 
  this 
  species 
  alive 
  again 
  near 
  this 
  place, 
  but 
  during 
  a 
  later 
  

   trip 
  farther 
  east 
  in 
  western 
  Yunnan 
  I 
  found 
  a 
  male 
  Burmese 
  Pheasant, 
  much 
  decomposed, 
  

   lying 
  in 
  a 
  small 
  pool 
  of 
  water 
  in 
  the 
  jungle. 
  It 
  had 
  two 
  wounds 
  in 
  the 
  back 
  which 
  

   might 
  have 
  been 
  inflicted 
  by 
  a 
  large 
  hawk, 
  although 
  the 
  dense 
  underbush 
  would 
  point 
  

   rather 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  four-footed 
  beasts 
  of 
  prey. 
  Whatever 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  death, 
  the 
  victim 
  

   had 
  escaped 
  being 
  devoured, 
  and 
  was 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  dissolution 
  by 
  the 
  combined 
  

   agents 
  of 
  warmth, 
  water 
  and 
  a 
  myriad 
  ants. 
  This 
  individual 
  had 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  

   chestnut 
  even 
  for 
  its 
  subspecific 
  form, 
  the 
  other 
  characters 
  being 
  those 
  of 
  typical 
  

   burmanicus. 
  

  

  vol. 
  in 
  185 
  B 
  B 
  

  

  