178 J. Ddacour—The Rheinarfs Pheasant or Crested Argus


Pheasant. Although I spent several weeks in the damp jungle where

they lived and often called, I never saw one, so thick is the

vegetation and so clever are the birds in hiding themselves. Many

times a day the loud call of the male was heard quite close to us,

generally as an answer to a shot, just as the Spicifer Peacock does.

But the bird never could be spotted. It was most extraordinary, as it is

over 2 yards long with its wonderful tail. But nearly one hundred

specimens were snared, both alive and dead. I left Annam with many

skins and forty-two live birds. Unfortunately, they had contracted

diphtheric roup, and nearly all died before being landed in France,

some surviving a few weeks only. As far as aviculture is concerned, it

was a terrible failure.


In the course of the following expeditions (I went six times to

Indo-China between 1925 and 1932) I heard (but never saw) and

collected many more Bheinarts. By taking great precautions, I

managed to avoid contamination and to bring them over in perfect

health, so that now they are quite well established at Cleres, where

they live long, prove hardy, and breed regularly.


From the experience I had of the bird, both at liberty and in

captivity, I have learned the following points :—


The Annamese Crested Argus lives in the damp forests of the

Chaine Annamitique, on the eastern slope only, the western one being

not moist enough. It is found on a long, narrow stretch of hilly ground,

from the province of Yinh, in the north, to that of Qui-Nhon, in the

south, between 14° and 18° 1. N. It haunts the primeval forests only,

from sea-level to about 4,000 feet. It is very shy and difficult to see,

but it is easily trapped, like all the ground birds of the country,

Pheasants, Partridges, and Pittas particularly. For so doing, the natives

build miles of low hurdles across the forest, with an opening every

20 or 30 yards : a snare, made of a flexible vine, is set at each

opening. The birds run along the hurdles and try to get out through

the openings, when they are caught by the leg. They are captured alive

unless some carnivorous animal comes and kills them before they are

found. But often their leg is “ ringed ” or injured, and in that case

the bird never recovers. Sometimes snares are baited with paddy or

fruit; the bird is then caught by the neck and almost always killed.



