246 



GIGANTIC ARGUS. 



and black : before the second moult there is no 

 appearance of eyes on the secondaries, the whole 

 of the quills being nearly black : the primaries 

 with brown spots, and the secondaries with yel- 

 low-brown and zigzag black spots on their outer 

 web, and plain brown on their inner : the rump 

 does not possess the beautiful spotted appearance, 

 and the two middle tail-feathers are plain. After 

 the second moult the whole of the colours begin 

 to make their appearance with more regularity ; 

 at the third, the back and the rump are covered 

 with yellowish red feathers, spotted with chesnut : 

 the two middle taiLfeathers increase in length: 

 the quills are regularly spotted, and the eyes on 

 the secondaries make their appearance. It is not 

 till after the fourth moult is completed that the 

 bird attains its full plumage. 



The female, which is described by Temminck, 

 is in general as large as the male in the body, but 

 considerably shorter, owing to the great disparity 

 in the length of the two middle tail-feathers, 

 which scarcely exceed eight inches, whereas in 

 the male they are nearly four feet in length : 

 again, the secondaries in the female are not above 

 four inches long, but in the male almost three 

 feet: the sides of the head and the top of the 

 neck are covered with a rugose skin : the top of 

 the head and the occiput are covered by a very 

 short cottony down : the feathers on the hind 

 part of the neck are shaded with grey-brown and 

 bright grey ; they have disunited webs : the lower 

 part of the neck, the breast, and the top of the 



