Il6 HODGSON'S EARED-PHEASANT. 



"A closed wing measures 12*5 inches ; the tarsus, 4*12 ; and 

 the central-toe, 2*62. The bill has the same length, whether 

 taken from the gape or from the front, and is three-eighths of an 

 inch shorter than the head, the latter being two inches com- 

 plete. The bill is very strong, with the general characters of that 

 of Lophophoriis, the tomial edge of the upper mandible being' 

 even more scarped, and furnished with a small tooth-like 

 festoon ; its base is nude. The head and throat are clad in 

 feathers, and simple, but the entire cheeks, from nostril to 

 occiput, are void of plumes, being occupied by the typical red 

 and papillated skin of the Pheasant tribe, and in all that extent 

 of development, which more especially characterises the Indian 

 Kaliches \leucomelanus\ and the painted and Amherstian species 

 of China. Like the true Pheasant (colchicus), our bird has no 

 crest of any kind, though the feathers occupying the top of the 

 head are of a peculiar kind, being short, velvety, thick set, 

 erect, with their slightly discomposed and square points re- 

 curved a little to the front. 



" The wings have no peculiarity ; they are short, stiff, bowed, 

 and rounded as usual, the sixth feather being the longest. The 

 very ample tail is most remarkable for the breadth of the 

 plumes. Its length is moderate, nor is there any of the extra 

 elongation and narrowing of the central feathers which charac- 

 terise the typical Pheasants. There are 18 caudal plumes, re- 

 gularly and considerably graduated throughout, and the general 

 form of the tail is broadly convex, without any symptom of the 

 Galline compression and curve. The legs and feet are well 

 adapted for rapid movement on the ground, and have a form 

 and proportion veiy similar to those of leucomelanus and 

 satyra. The tarsi are nude, and biscaled before and behind, but 

 the hinder scales are smaller than the fore ones. The sides of 

 the tarsi are papillo-reticulate. The spur is sharp and curved. 

 The lateral toes are equal, the central long, and the hind short 

 and raised, as usual. The nails are long, and possess but little 

 curve. 



" It remains only to notice the plumage of the bird, which 

 constitutes, indeed, its most remarkable feature. The plumage, 

 then, upon the whole body is very ample, (but not at all pointed,) 

 unglossed, and wholly dishevelled, so as to remind one of the 

 Struthious family. 



" It is distinguished amongst all its congeners by its ample 

 fringe-like plumage, the dishevelled quality of which is com- 

 municated even to the central tail-feathers, the very broad and 

 equal webs of which are quite separated, and curve outwards, 

 the sides, besides, being adorned by a fine gloss. 



" The general colour of our bird is bluish-hoary, paler and 

 tinted yellow on the lower surface ; crown of the head, black and 

 velvety ; great alar and caudal plumes dusky or black, more or 

 less glossed with changeable blue, especially the tail-feathers ; 



