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N. Wharton-Tigar—London Zoo Notes



found always at a high altitude and says the cock is a gorgeous creature,

a living mirror of iridescence ; and the hen is the umber of dead leaves

and the smooth brown of lichens. As I gazed at the cock’s sturdy

form, and waving crest, I was reminded of some Eastern Prince decked

out in all the splendour of a gala occasion.


There are several varieties of the Peacock Pheasant. At first

sight they are a little disappointing ; but when displaying, they are

charming. The Sumatran Bronze-tailed ( CJialcurus chdlcurus Lesson),

the Grey (Polyelectron bicalcaratum bicalcamtum Linnaeus), Germains

(.Polyplectron bicalcaratum germaine Eliot), and the Palawan (Poly-

electron napoleonis Lesson) from the Island of Palawan, Philippines.

This is an exceedingly rare Pheasant; it is also one of the most brilliant

and specialized of the entire genus, and confined to the small island

of Palawan. Crown and long hairy crest shining bottle green, mantle

and wings rich blue, bordered with green, back and tail black. This

Pheasant and one other to be described later came with Lord Moyne’s

collection, when he took his yacht to the Far East, and cruised the

tiny and inaccessible islands in the Philippines and the coast of

New Guinea collecting many rare live mammals, reptiles, and birds,

returning in April, 1936. What a glorious adventure !


Before long the London Zoo may have the good fortune to acquire

live specimens of a new species of Pheasant or Peacock, recently found

by Mr. James P. Chapin, Assitant Curator, New York Natural History

Museum, in the Belgian Congo. A feather worn by a native chief

gave him a clue, and he did not rest till he traced the bird to its natural

haunts, and brought back several skins of both male and female.

I was privileged to meet Mr. Chapin at a friend’s house, and examined

the skins of a fine pair he had with him. It certainly is a wonderful

bird. The name he has given it is Afropavo congensia. In size it is

about the same as an English Pheasant; the cock has a brush-like

white crest, 3 inches long, on a black crown—the bare neck is coloured

very bright red, it has a rich violet chest, and a patch of the same

colour on the shoulders and on the edges of the tail; back iridescent

bronzy green—the hen has the red bare neck and is in general colour

bronzy green and is also a very pretty bird. Mr. Chapin can be

congratulated on this sensational find in Africa !



