GIGANTIC ARGUS. 



245 



a circle of yellow, shading into a second circle of 

 greyish : the inner webs are twice the width of 

 the outer ones ; they are marked with short rays, 

 which unite in a broad longitudinal band ; they 

 are rufous, with small white points, as big as 

 tares ; the rest of the web is yellowish, with black 

 spots, encircled with brown : the remainder of the 

 quills have their inner webs greyish white, with 

 black spots, edged with brown : the outer webs are 

 adorned with a row of large eyes, arranged pa- 

 rallel to the shaft ; these are of different tints of 

 olive-green, with a small spot of white on the 

 lower part, and surrounded with a deep black 

 circle ; the feathers have a ground colour of dull 

 white, varied with dusky undulated rays : the eyes 

 are nineteen in number on the longest feathers, 

 and fifteen on the shortest, gradually diminishing 

 in number; the feathers themselves are nearly 

 three feet long : the tail consists of twelve feathers, 

 the two middle ones being about four feet in 

 length; the next scarcely two, gradually shorten- 

 ing to the outer ones, which are but twelve 

 inches ; they are of a deep chesnut-brown, dot- 

 ted with white ; the two middle feathers have 

 round white spots, encircled with black, on their 

 outer webs, and irregular brown spots, surrounded 

 with dusky, on their inner ; the extremity of them 

 is spirally twisted, and tipped with dull white : 

 the lower belly and vent dusky, irregularly varied 

 with brown : legs greenish ash : tarsi without 

 spurs. The young males are dull brown, spotted 

 and irregularly varied with reddish yellow, brown, 



