( 3 ? ) 
The ARGUS, or Luen Pheasant-.. 
HPHE Argus, is a fpecies of the Pheafant, the largeft of that genus yefe 
A known, being equal in fize to a full grown Turkey Cock, from one 
of the moft northern provinces of China. 
I take it to be.a male bird, by the beautiful red fkin on the fore , part of 
the head, and its fine blue changeable creft and neck; the females of all the 
different fpecies of pheafants yet difcovered, having little or no gaudy co¬ 
lours about their heads. 
The back is like that of our pheafant,, of a yellowifh white colour .; the 
fore part of the head and beginning of the throat, are covered with a fine 
fcarlet fkin, fee.mingly void of feathers, but is rough with a kind of grain.. 
The irides of the eyes are orange, coloured more yellow next the pupil, and 
redder in their outer circumference: the fkin round the eye is dufky or 
black; it hath alfo blackfill marks proceeding from the coraers of the 
fnouth; the top and hinder part of the head and neck, are of. a fine blue 
changeable colour ;. it. has. a creft of'longToofe feathers, which I fuppofe it 
can raife, or lower at pleafure. The lower part of the neck, the back, and 
covert feathers of the wings, are covered with black or dufky feathers, hav¬ 
ing a fmall broken tranfverfe mixture of redifh brown.. The wings when 
clofed, meafure about feventeen inches ; though the prime quill falls fhort 
of the length of thofe above them. The wing hath about twenty quills, the 
outermoft fliorteft, which gradually lengthens to the fifth ; the nine outer- 
moft quills, are of a lightfih yellow brown, fpotted with dufky fpots, of 
the fize of tares, except on their inner webs next the ftiafts, where they 
are of a dufky brown, with white fpots as fmall as muftard feeds; the fhafts 
of thefe feathers are a lead colour; the eleven remaining quills which cha- 
radlerife this bird, are of a darker brown than the foregoing, marked with 
round and longifh dufky fpots on both the inner and the outer webs—What 
is moft extraordinary in thefe feathers is that each of them has on the outer 
web. 
