P H A 
P H A 
73 
wards into a plain comb, and downwards into an obfcurely- 
divided wattle ; feathers of the neck and upper part of 
the back difpofed fo as to referable a kind of fcales or 
(hells; fmaller wing-coverts black, lanceolate, deeply 
edged with bright orange-yellow ; tail-coverts (bed on 
each fide, long, narrow, pointed, black, the edges ochre ; 
bill and legs yellowifh. Inhabits India; lefs than the 
common cock. This is added by Dr. Turton, from the 
Nat. Mifcel. 353. 
16. Phafianus montanus, the mountain - pheafant. 
This is a bird of New South Wales; and is defcribed by 
Major-gen. Thomas Davies, F. R. and L. S. under the 
name of Menura fuperba. 
The total length of this lingular bird, from the point 
of the bill to the end of the broad tail-feathers, is 43 in¬ 
ches, 25 of which are in the tail alone. The bill rather 
exceeds an inch in length, is ftrong, formed much like 
that of a peacock, and black, with the noftrils, which are 
long open flits, rather large, placed near the middle of its 
length; the head, which is fomewhat crefted at the hind 
part, neck, (boulders, back, uppertail-coverts, and upper 
furface of the tail-feathers, of a dark brownifli-black ; 
throat rufous, reaching fome way down the middle of 
the neck ; bread, belly, and vent, grey ; the feathers of 
the latter are long, very foft, and of a filky texture; 
thighs nearly of the fame colour, rather long, and fea¬ 
thered down to the knee; fcapulars of a brownilh tinge; 
upper tail-coverts and prime quill-feathers, which are 
fomewhat curved at the ends, brown black ; edges of 
the quills grey ; the legs long and very ftrong, covered 
with large fcales, efpecially in front; the feet, which are 
likewife large, and the nails, are black ; the laft fome¬ 
what crooked, convex above and flat beneath ; the hind 
nail near three quarters of an inch long. The tail con- 
fifts in the whole of fixteen feathers; all of which, except 
the two upper or middle ones, and the two exterior on 
each fide, have long (lender (hafts furniflied on each fide 
with delicate long filaments, four inches or more in 
length, placed pretty clofe towards the rump, but more 
diftant from each other as they approach the extremity, 
and refemble much thofe of the greater paradife-bird. 
The two middle or upper ones are longer than the reft, 
(lender, narrow at the bafe, growing wider as they ap¬ 
proach the ends, which are pointed; webbed on the 
inner edge all the way, and furniflied with fome diftant 
hair-like threads near the end on the outer fide, of a pale 
grey colour beneath, and brown black above, as is the 
reft of the tail. The two exterior feathers on each fide 
are of an extraordinary conftruilion, rather more than an 
inch wide at the bafe, and growing wider as they proceed 
to the ends, where they are full two inches broad and 
curve outwardly; the curved part is black with a narrow 
white border; the quills of thefe feathers are double for 
two-thirds down from the rump. The general colour of 
the under fides of thefe two feathers is of a pearly hue, 
elegantly marked on the inner web witli bright rufous- 
coloured crefcent-flnped ('pots, which, from the extraor¬ 
dinary conftruftion of the parts, appear wonderfully 
tranfparent, although at firft fight feemingly the darkeft; 
they are alfo elongated into (lender filaments of an inch 
or more, efpecially towards the extremities. 
The female is fomewhat fmaller, being in length, 
from the crown of the head to the end of the tail, only 
31 inches. The general plumage is of a dull blackilh 
colour, a little rufous under the chin and throat, and 
of a brownifh caft on the fcapulars, as in the male. The 
plumage of the whole body, from the breaft to the vent, 
and from the flioulders to the rump, is compofed of long, 
(lender, thread-like, filky feathers, refembling fringe, of 
a dull greyifli-black ; lighter on the breaft, belly, and 
vent. The bill and legs, which are ftrong and furniflied 
with large fcales, as in the cock, are black. From the 
head to the rump fourteen inches; the tail eighteen in- 
dies, alfo of a dull brown-black colour above, and grey 
beneath; the two upper tail-feathers are (harp*pointed 
Vol. XX. No. 1352. 
at the ends; the reft are rounded, darker in colour, 
and (horterby degrees as they approach the rump, fo as to 
appear cuneated ; the two outer feathers are fliorter than 
the reft, but in form like thofe of the male, brown black 
above, of a pearly grey beneath ; and thecrefcents, which 
are of a deep rufous colour, are not fo vifiblenor fo large, 
but more tranfparent if pofllble, than thofe of the cock. 
They are about an inch and a half broad, and not black 
or longer at the ends as in the other fex. From thefe 
birds being found in the hilly parts of the country, they 
are called by the inhabitants the mountain-pheafant. 
17. Phafianus cruentus, the bloody pheafant. This is 
alfo a new fpecies, and from the fame work, the Tranf- 
atftions of the Linnsean Society, to which the public is 
indebted for fo many curious difcoveries in natural hif- 
tory. It is of the fize of a fmall fowl; length feventeen 
inches; bill flior.t, 43- of an inch, convex, very ftrong, 
black, the bafe red, including the noftrils ; temples naked; 
(kin red, but feathered between the bill and the eye ; 
from the bafe of the upper mandible rifes a fmall creft of 
fliort various - coloured feathers, inclining backward. 
The colour of the plumage above is dark a(h, with white 
(hafts ; the coverts of the wings varioufly tinged with 
green, with broad ftrokes of white through the length 
of each feather; primaries and fecondaries brownifh- 
black with white (hafts; the feathers of the chin deep 
crimfon, neck much mixed with white. On the breaft, 
belly, and fides, the feathers are lance-fliaped, of various 
length, the tips green with crimfon margins, collectively 
refembling dafhes of blood fcattered on the breaft and 
belly ; vent rufous. The tail confifts of twelve fub-equal 
feathers, about fix inches in length ; (hafts white, rounded, 
the ends whitifti; the coverts both above and beneath a 
rich crimfon red. Legs deep red, armed with three une¬ 
qual fpurs, but varying in number in different fubje&s; 
toes long; claws ftrong, long and black. The lien is 
fimilar to the cock in plumage and all other marks ; but 
fmaller, and without fpurs. This fine fpecies is a native 
of the Nepaul hills. Linn. TranJ'. vol. xiii. Part I. 
PHA'SIS,/. plural phafes; [Greek.] Appearance ex¬ 
hibited by any body.—All the hypothefes yet contrived, 
were built upon too narrow an infpection of the phafes of 
the univerfe. Glanville. 
Ke o’er the feas (hall love or fame purfue; 
And other months, another phafis, view; 
Fixt to the rudder, he (hail boldlyfteer, 
And pafs thofe rocks which Tiphys us’d to fear. Creech. 
This word is more particularly applied to the feveral ap¬ 
pearances, or quantities of illumination, of the Moon, 
Venus, Mercury, and the other planets; or the feveral 
manners wherein they appear illuminated by the Sun. 
The variety of phafes in the Moon is very remarkable : 
fometimes (he increafes, fometimes wanes, fometimes is 
bent into horns, and again appears like a femicircle; at 
other times (he is gibbous, and prefently again refumes a 
full circular face. For the theory of the lunar phafes, 
fee the article Astronomy, vol. ii. p. 379. 
As to the phafes of Venus, the naked eye does not 
difcover any diverfity in them; but the telefcope does. 
Copernicus anciently proghelied, that after-ages would 
find that Venus underwent all the changes of the Moon ; 
which prophecy was firft fulfilled by Galileo, who, direct¬ 
ing his telefcope to Venus, obferved the phafes to emu¬ 
late thofe of the Moon ; being fometimes full, fometimes 
horned, and fometimes gibbous. Mercury alfo does the 
fame, all the difference between thefe and thofe of the 
Moon is, that, when thefe are full, the Sun is between 
them and us; whereas, when the Moon is full, we are 
between her and the Sun. See the fame article, p. 379. 
Saturn puzzled the aftronomers a long time with his 
ftrange variety of phafes. Hevelius and others found him, 
1. Monofpherical; 2. Triipherical; 3. Spherico-anfated ; 
4. Elliptico-anfated ; 5. Spherico-cufpidated. But Huy¬ 
gens (hows, that thefe monftrous phafes were principally 
U owing 
