THE ARGUS PHEASANTS. 
347 
Argus pheasa,nts. Strange to say, they were 
not known in Europe until 1780; and, if we 
mistake not, the first accurate description of 
them was recorded by Marsden in his " His- 
tory of Sumatra." They are even now not 
too familiar, for they are not readily accli- 
matized in European countries. But of their 
beauty no doubt can exist. Their native coun- 
try is the peninsula of Malacca, where they 
seclude themselves in the deep lowland forests. 
Wallace says that during his Malayan excur- 
sions he frequently heard their cry ; but on 
asking an old Malay attendant to try and shoot 
one 'for him, he replied that, though he had 
been for twenty years shooting in the forests, 
he had never yet shot a great Argus pheasant, 
and had never seen one except after he had been 
caught. The bird, adds Wallace, is so exceed- 
ingly shy and wary, and runs along the ground 
in the densest parts of the forests so quickly. 
THE EAR-PUEASAKT. 
