THE ARGUS PHEASANT, OR GIGANTIC ARGUS. 169 
in procuring two females. Like the male, the head 
and forepart of the neck is naked, a thick short 
down covers the top of the head, Btretching down 
upon the neck, where it gradually lengthens, and as- 
sumes the form of feathers : these parts are of a 
brownish grey. The lower part of the neck, breast, 
and upper parts of the back, are of a chestnut red ; 
the lower part of the back, rump, lesser wing coverts, 
and those of the tail, have, upon a yellowish-brown 
ground, numerous black transverse bands, some large, 
and others narrow in the form of zigzags ; the tail, 
which has no long feathers, as in the male, folds to- 
gether, and forms an angle like that of a hen ; it is 
of a brownish chestnut, varied with spots and black 
bands, but the most remarkable difference is in the 
secondaries ; in the male we found them to be two 
feet ten inches long, in this sex they are only about 
thirteen inches, and possess neither the development 
in breadth, nor the ocellated spots so conspicuous 
in the other. They are of a blackish brown, marked 
with small and irregular bands of ochrey yellow. 
The habits of this singular bird are yet a point of 
much interest in Ornithology. They are said not 
to thrive well in a state of confinement, and we be- 
lieve have never been brought alive to this country. 
Their incubation and breeding are equally unknown. 
