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OF NAT. HIST. OF STRASBURG ; FOR. MEMB. OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC, OF NURNBERG, AND OF THE IMP. NAT. HIST. SOC. OF MOSCOW : }
HON. MEMB. OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF DARMSTADT ; OF THE NAT. HIST. AND THE NAT. HIST. AND MED. SOCS. OF
DRESDEN ; OF THE ROY. SOC. OF TASMANIA ; OF THE ROY. ZOOL. SOG. OF IRELAND ; OF THE PENZANCE
NAT EIS: SOC.; OF THE WORCESTER NAT. HIST, SOC. ; OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND, ‘
DURHAM, AND NEWCASTLE NAT, HIST. SOC. ; OF THE IPSWICH MUSEUM; OF ‘a
THE ORN. SOC. OF GERMANY ; OF THE DORSET COUNTY MUSEUM AND  -
LIBRARY ; OF THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION, BERCs “4
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IN SEVEN VOLUMES. <a

VOLUME VIL.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. b
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 26 CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE. >

1850—1883. FF)
LIST OF PLATES.

VOLUME VII.

 

Nore.—As the arrangement of the Plates in the course of publication was impracticable, the Numbers here given will refer to them

PLate
lls

COWS oA O dO

when arranged, and the Plates may be quoted by them.

Ammoperdix Bonhami .
> Heyi

Microperdix erythrorhyncha.
. Asiatic Bush-Quail

Perdicula Asiatica
“ Argoondah
Excalfactoria Chinensis .
sts minima
Malacoturnix superciliosus
Coturnix Coromandelicus
Turnix Dussumieri
en laSeiatus
Lobiophasis castaneicaudatus

i Bulweri
Euplocamus lineatus
Vieilloti

6 Swinhoii
Genneus nycthemerus .
Catreus Wallichii
Thaumalea picta .

a Amherstiz .
Diardigallus preelatus
Crossoptilon auritum
Calophasis Ellioti
Pucrasia xanthospila
Darwini.
macrolopha
castanea
Nipalensis
Tetraogallus Caspius
Himalayensis
Altaicus .

. Tibetanus
Phasianus Reevesii
colchicus
Shawi .
chrysomelas
Scemmeringii
scintillans

33

9

99

torquatus
versicolor
Mongolicus .
Ithaginis Geoffroyii
cruentus

39

 

Bonham’s Sand-Partridge
Hey’s Sand-Partridge é
Little Red-billed Partridge .

Argoondah Bush-Quail
Chinese Quail
Minute Quail

. Slate-coloured Partridge

Coromandel Quail
Little Hemipode.
Fasciated Hemipode

Chestnut-tailed Lobed Pheasant .

Bulwer’s Pheasant
Lineated Pheasant

. Vieillot’s Fireback
. Swinhoe’s Fireback

Pencilled Pheasant

Cheer . ;

Golden Pheasant .

Lady Amherst’s Pheasant
Siamese Fireback

Chinese Crossoptilon

. Elliot’s Pheasant

Chinese Pucras Pheasant
Darwin’s Pucras Pheasant .
Himalayan Pucras Pheasant
Kafiristan Pucras Pheasant .
Nepaul Pucras Pheasant

. Caspian Snow- Partridge

Himalayan Snow-Partridge .

. Altaic Snow-Partridge
. Tibetan Snow-Partridge

Reeves’s Pheasant
Common Pheasant
Shaw’s Pheasant
Oxus Pheasant
Sommering’s Pheasant
Sparkling Pheasant
Chinese Ring-necked Pheasant
Japanese Pheasant
Mongolian Pheasant
Geoffroy’s Francolin
Sanguine Francolin

Part

JIL.

XIV.

XODK.

9

Vale

DOGIE
XIII.

XXX,

XXVII.

39

Ve
XVI.
GE

xe sitle
XVIII.

XGE
XOXGlF
XXVI.
YOXGE
XXVII.
VI.

3)

xXOxCIE
XXVIII.
XIX.
VIII.

IX.

Xe
JOSIE
Oe

Datr.
June 1851.

May 1862.
June 1863.
May 1867.
April 1868.
July 1854.
April 1869.
May 1861.
October 1877.
March 1875.
99 39

November 1852.
April 1864.
May 1859.
April 1865.
April 1866.
June 1860.
March 1870.
August 1874.
April 1869.
March 1875.
July 1854,

April 1869.
July 1876.

99 99
May 1867.

39 29
May 1856.
May 1857.
June 1858.
March 1872.
June 1851,

 
INES
_& Oy ae) *

eM 57

 

ay

PLATE

44, Tetraophasis obscurus .
45. Ceriornis melanocephala
46. +5 Temmincki

47. ep lyiuln

48. - Caboti .

49. ss Satyra .

50. Polyplectron chinquis .
ills s bicalcaratum
52 Argusianus argus

53. Lophophorus Impeyanus
54. es VHuysi .
55. Chalcophasis Sclateri

56. Gallus Sonnerati .

57. Sypheotides auritus

58. Otis MacQueeni

59. Tantalus leucocephalus
.60. Numenius rufescens

61. Ibidorhynchus Struthersi
62. Pluvianus Agyptius

63. Glareola melanoptera

64. :; lactea

65. Cursorius Coromandelicus
66. Eurinorhynchus pygmeus
67. Gallinula phoenicura

68. Hydrophasianus Sinensis
69. Aix galericulata

70. Sterna melanogaster

71. Uria Carbo .

 

 

ale sel e)H PA Ene:

. Mou-pin Snow-Partridge

. Western Horned Pheasant .

. Temminck’s Horned Pheasant
. Blyth’s Horned Pheasant

_ Dr. Cabot’s Horned Pheasant

Nipaulese Horned Pheasant

. Assam Peacock Pheasant

Malayan Peacock Pheasant

. Argus Pheasant .

Monaul

Pen ilnyeis Monaul .

Sclater’s Monaul

_ Sonnerat’s Jungle-fowl

Lesser Florikin .
MacQueen’s Bustard .
Rosy Tantalus .
Rufescent Curlew
Red-billed Erola

TiC iA Ct : :
Black-winged Pratincole
Cinereous Pratincole .
Indian Courser .

. Spoon-billed Sandpiper
. White-breasted Water-hen

Chinese Jacana .
Mandarin Duck
Black-bellied Tern
Kurile Guillemot

re 2 ENO 1

DATE.
August 1874.

April 1855.
April 1869.
March 1872.
June 1854.
April 1868.
March 1871.
March 1870.
August 1883.
July 1850.
March 1873.
99 3)
October 1877.
April 1866.
June 1851.
May 1862.
April 1864.
May 1856.
April 1865.
July 1850.
April 1869.
May 1856.
March 1872.

9? 9

April 1855.

November 1852.

May 1867.

November 1851.

 

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AMMOPERDIX BONHAML.,

Bonham’s Sand Partridge.

Caccabis Bonhami, G. R. Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xi. p. 372.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii,
p. 508, Caccabis, sp. 7.

Perdix Bonhami, Fraser in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XI. p: 70.—Ib. Zool. Typ., pl. 61.

griseo-gularis, Brandt, Bull. des Sci. St. Petersb., vol. x. Ds 20

 

 

SEVERAL individuals of this interesting species of Partridge were procured at Teheran in 1842 by Edward
W. Bonham, Esq., H.M. Agent at Tabreez in Persia, and were subsequently presented by that gentleman to
the Zoological Society of London, in whose Gardens they lived for some time. The Society has also
received a collection of birds from Keith E. Abbott, Esq., obtained by him in the south of Persia, among
which is a fine male specimen with a label attached, on which is written “ Teehoo or Diminutive Partridge
of Persia. Shot near Neyruz, 9th Feb. 1850. Abounds in stony dry rocky ground; ” and I find a specimen
in the collection made by Lord Gifford in Thibet : we have therefore ample evidence that it enjoys a very
wide range, and it is very probable that it extends over the whole of Persia, Thibet, and the neighbouring
countries.

The species was named almost simultaneously both by Mr. G. R. Gray and Mr. Fraser in honour of the
gentleman who first sent it to Europe ; Mr. Gray’s description, however, has the advantage of a slight priority.

The Ammoperdix Bonhami is nearly allied to, but exceeds the 4. FHleyi in size, and the male may always be
distinguished from the male of that species by the spotted markings on the sides of the neck: on the other
hand, the females of the two species much resemble each other, while they differ very considerably from
their respective mates : a marked difference is also observable in the colouring of the legs of the two species ;
those of 4. Bonhami being olive, while those of 4. Hey? are yellow.

Mr. Blyth informs us that ‘it inhabits rocky places covered here and there with brushwood, feeds much
on wild-thyme, is found in coveys, and when sprung rises with a startling noise like the Bush Quails (genus
Perdicula). Sportsmen reckon it very easy to kill, and it is said to be delicious eating : the name Seesee
expresses its call. Fine specimens were prepared by Capt. Duncan of the 43rd Regiment of N. I., who
also brought living examples from Afghanistaun, and kept one of them alive up to the time of his departure
to England in the beginning of 1845.”

The male has the general colour isabella brown, numerously banded and freckled with dusky ; crown of
the head grey ; rump and upper tail-coverts speckled with black, the speckles consisting of three small irre-
gular spots down the centre of the apical portion of each feather; forehead and line over the eye deep
black ; broad line behind the eye white, terminating in rufous ; beneath this line another line of black ; lores

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white ; throat greyish white; breast delicate grey; on the side of the neck a transverse patch of bluish grey,
with numerous oblong spots of white and a few specks of black ; flank feathers rufous, isabella brown and

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white, margined with black ; primaries pale brown, all but the first barred on their outer webs with whitish ;
tail cinnamon, tips paler and freckled with black ; bill and nostrils flesh-colour; legs and feet olive.

7 aay X

In the female the black marks of the head in the male are replaced by freckled marks of black and white ;
the general colouring is more grey; the freckling on the wings larger and more distinct ; the marks on the
lower part of the back less so; and the flanks light brown conspicuously freckled with black.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

 
 
 

 
AMMOPERDIX HEYI.
Hey’s Sand Partridge.

Perdix Heyit, Temm. Pl. Col. 328, 329.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. iv. Game Birds, p. 91.
Perde flavirostris, Ehrenb.
Caccabis Heyi, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 508, Caccabis, sp. 6.

 

Tus beautiful little Partridge inhabits the extensive plains and rocky districts of Arabia, and doubtless
extends its range to the confines of Persia, and there inosculates with the Ammoperdix Bonhami. The merit
of its discovery is due to M. Hey, the companion of that intrepid traveller Dr. Riippell; and that of first
making it known to science to the veteran ornithologist M. Temminck, who assigned to it the specific name
of Hey as a just compliment to its discoverer, and who has published in his ‘‘ Planches Coloriées” an
excellent figure and description of it from specimens killed by M. Hey in the deserts of Acaba in Arabia.
As is the case with the Ammoperdiv Bonhami, the sexes differ considerably in colour, and both species,
unlike the true Red-legged Partridges, are destitute of spurs.

Hitherto no living examples have been brought to this country, a circumstance which is to be regretted,
since no member of its tribe would form a more interesting addition to our aviaries.

The male has the general plumage deep buff, washed with dark grey on the crown and cheeks ; rump,
upper tail-coverts and centre tail-feathers sandy buff, pencilled and barred with brown ; lateral tail-feathers
chestnut ; primaries brown, blotched on their outer margins with buff; secondaries and tertiaries pencilled
with black; lores and stripe behind the eye white, bordered above and below with a darker tint; breast
deep buff; under surface chestnut and white, each feather margined with black; under tail-coverts reddish
buff; bill orange; feet olive-yellow.

The female has the entire plumage greyish buff, mottled and pencilled with a lighter hue, and black, and
with a wash of reddish buff on the shoulders and back.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size, from fine specimens recently brought from Arabia
by Lord Robert Clinton.

 
 

 
 
 

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MICROPERDIX ERYTHRORHYNCHA.
Little Red-billed Partridge.

Coturnix erythrorhyncha, Sykes in Proc. of Com. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part ii. p. 153.—Id. Trans. Zool. Soc.,
vol. ii. p. 16, pl. 1.—Gray, Zool. Ind., vol. ii. pl. 44. fig. 2.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii.
p. 507, Coturnix, sp. 10.—Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part ii. p. 40.

? erythrorhyncha, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 255.

 

Perdicula erythrorhyncha, Bonap. in Compt. Rend. de |’ Acad. des Sci., Mai 12, 1856, tom. lxii.
Perdix erythrorhyncha, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 808.

Kokui Lowa of the Hindoos (Jerdon).

Red-bellied or Black Quail of the Neilgherries.

 

Tue little bird figured in the accompanying Plate may claim the precedence in point of beauty over all the
smaller Gallinacee, its form and contour being especially elegant. It appears to me to be very nearly allied
to the Ewcalfatoria Chinensis of China and the little Bush Partridges of Australia, figured in my work on
the birds of that country under the generic appellation of Synoteus ; at the same time it is quite distinct from
both those forms. Neither can I for a moment hesitate about separating it from the small Bush Partridges
(Perdicule) of India, with which it has hitherto been associated,—those birds having stout and deeply
formed bills, and being clothed in a very different style of plumage; I have therefore made it the type
of a new genus—Microperdiv.

The great peninsula of India is the country in which this bird dwells in a state of nature, and over which
it is generally distributed ; at the same time it is somewhat local, as will be seen from the following brief
notes by Col. Sykes and Mr. Jerdon, which comprise all that is known respecting it.

‘This very handsome bird,” says Colonel Sykes, ‘ I have never met with out of the valley of Karleh, in the
Ghauts, frequenting the same ground as the Black Partridge (Francolinus pictus). It is gregarious and
abundant.”

“This handsomely plumaged Quail,” remarks Mr. Jerdon, “is very abundant on the tops of the
Neilgherries, frequenting the low brushwood of the woods, and occasionally entering gardens. As it is
mentioned by Colonel Sykes and Mr. Elliot, in his Catalogue, it is probably to be found in all the more
elevated districts of the Western Ghauts.”

The following is Colonel Sykes’s description of the two sexes :—

“Male: the bill and legs are red, which colour nearly disappears in dried specimens; the irides are of a
brownish yellow-ochre colour; crown velvet-black ; the throat is pure white, bounded by a narrow line of
black ; and a white bar passes across the forehead, and is extended over both eyes to the back of the head ;
all the upper surface of the body and the breast rich chocolate-brown, studded with lunules of velvet-black ;
the feathers of the scapularies, wing-coverts and secondaries with large patches of black ; a yellow line runs
down the shaft, which is crossed by one or two yellow lines ; wings reddish brown, spotted and barred with
faint chestnut on their outer webs; tail brown, spotted with black, and barred with yellow lines ; lower part
of the breast, abdomen and vent rufous; each feather of the flanks with a broad spot of black, and with a
whitish tip.

“The female differs only in the absence of the black on the head and the white bar across the forehead,
the latter being rufous; and in the throat and under surface being pale chestnut, washed with brown on
the breast.”

The stomachs of those examined by Colonel Sykes were “full of grass-seeds, with a few seeds of
Eroum Lens.”

The Plate represents two males and a female, of the natural size.

 
 
 

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PERDICULA ASIATICA.
Asiatic Bush-Quail.

Perdix asiaticus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 649.

Asiatic Partridge, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 278.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 281.

Coturnix rubiginosa, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. De o0ve

Coturniz Pentah, Sykes, in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc, part ii. p. 153.—-Id. Trans. Zool. Soc.,
vol. ii. p. 19, pl. 3.—Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Woy WO san, wD, G.

Perdicula asiatica, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 254.—Adams in Proc. Zool. Soc., part xxvi.
p. 504.—Blyth, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xx. p. 322.

Lowa, Hind, Blyth.

 

Ture are no birds more puzzling to the ornithologist than the two species of little Bush-Quails inhabiting
India, for which Mr. Blyth has proposed the generic name of Perdicula—the variation in their colouring
and markings being almost infinite, and running one into the other in such a manner that it is impossible
to separate a collection of specimens into their proper species with any degree of certainty ; every ornitho-
logist, however, admits that there are two distinct species inhabiting the peninsula of India—one, the
P. asiatica, being very generally dispersed over the greater part of the country, while the other, P. arg oondah,
occurs in the Madras Presidency and some of the south-western provinces. The males of both species are
said to have their breasts strongly crescented with black on a white ground, while the adult female is of a
uniform buffy brown; or if the uniformity be broken, it is only by an increase of colour in the gorget. The
young during the first year, and probably for a longer period, have their backs mottled and freckled with
markings of brown and buff in an infinite variety of forms.

“These birds,” says Col. Sykes, speaking of the Bush-Quails of the Dukhun, “are met with only on the
mountains, on the slopes and sides of which they rise in coveys from amidst reeds and long grass and brush-
wood, with the same startling whirl, uttering cries of alarm, as C. arg oondah. My specimens were shot at
4000 feet above the sea.”

Dr. Adams, on the other hand, states that it « frequents the valleys of the lower ranges of the Western
Himalayas, is gregarious and migratory. Its food consists of small seeds, such as mustard. Rises with a
quick whirring noise ; flies only a short distance, frequently dropping into the nearest bush, where it secretes
itself. I have not seen this species on the plains of India.”

Mr. Jerdon says, ‘It is an inhabitant of all the forests of S. India, and also occasionally and more
sparingly found in low Jungles and wooded nullahs in the Carnatic and other regions. It is found at all
levels, from the neighbourhood of the sea to the summits of the lofty mountains of the Western Ghauts.”

The following is, I believe, a correct description of the two sexes.

The male has the forehead, a broad stripe over the eye, and the throat-gorget rich reddish chestnut ; above
the red stripe over the eye a narrower streak of buffy white; through the eye, from the base of the bill, a
narrow line of white, and a third narrower line below the eye of the same colour; ear-coverts brown; all the
upper surface marbled with light brown, dark brown, and buff, some of the dark markings being in small,
others in large blotches, while the paler ones assume the form of streaks, spots, and bars; tail alter-
nately barred with irregular lines of black and rich buff; breast, abdomen, and flanks numerously and
alternately barred with black and greyish white; vent, thighs, and under tail-coverts pale rufous; irides
dark red ; bill slaty black, with a flesh-coloured base; legs red.

The female has the head and throat marked very like that of the male; all the upper surface light
brown, minutely freckled with darker brown; the scapularies and tertiaries streaked with buff, and marked
with large and conspicuous blotches of brownish black near the tip of the inner web; under surface vinous
red; irides, bill, and legs as in the male.

The Plate represents two males and a female, of the size of life.

 

 
 

 
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PERDICULA ARGOONDAH.

Argoondah Bush-Quail. — s

Coturnix Argoondah, Sykes, Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part ii. p. 153.—Id. Trans. Zool. Soc., : <

vol. ii. p. 17, pl. 2—Burg. in Proc. Zool. Soc., part xxiii. p. 31.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, Ne

=, vol. ili. p. 507, Coturnixz, sp. 8.—Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xii. p. 6. ’ By
— Perdix rubiginosa, Valenc. ? (Blyth). > S
a Perdicula Argoondah, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 254, and app. p. 342 (app. to no. 1518). Le ,
/ —Id. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xx. p. 322.—Layard, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser. vol. xiv. Vv bs
ae p. 107. Os
— Lauwau Partridge, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 304 (Blyth). Ks:
<M Geerza, Hind, Blyth. NG

S;

EON eas

 

P

Ir will be seen by the followmg extract from Colonel Sykes’s paper ‘‘ On the Quails and Hemipodii of India,”
published in the second volume of the ‘Transactions of the Zoological Society of London,’ that the remark

I have made in my account of Perdicula asiatica, as to the infinite variation in the colouring and markings of

NBS

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the Bush-Quails, is fully borne out by the observations of that gentleman.

¥

«There are so many trifling variations in the markings of the plumage of the upper surface of this bird,

af, ay

WR i is

that it is difficult to fix upon the exact type. The male is readily distinguished by the numerous transverse

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narrow black bars upon the breast ; but the young males and the females want these bars, and vary so much
in the markings on the back, that, with those disposed to manufacture species from plumage alone, the
eleven specimens before me, from Dukhan, would furnish at least four new species. The varieties in these
eleven specimens consist in the adult male birds being destitute of the black blotches on the upper surface,
black bars on the tail, and black tips to the feathers on the back of the neck, but having the tawny bars.
One adult male exactly resembles the female, on the upper surface, in the absence of distinct markings, but
has a more rufous shade of plumage. A female has faint black bars on the breast. Had these birds come
to hand as isolated specimens, they would probably have been considered as distinct species. There is
scarcely any difference in the size of the males and females.

 

“These birds do not frequent cultivated lands, but are found all over Dukhan on the general level of the
country, amidst rocks and low bushes; they rise in coveys of from ten to twenty, or more, from under the
feet, with a startling suddenness and bustle; and the young sportsman is perplexed in selecting his bird.
They are gregarious and, I infer, polygamous, as I never saw them solitary or in pairs. Flesh perfectly
white.

‘This is the species used for Quail-fights by the natives, and not Cotwrnw dactylisonans, or C. teatilis.”

:

In the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society,’ Colonel Sykes says that this bird is also found “ on the
most elevated table-lands and slopes of the mountains, amidst reeds and grass; specimens procured at
4000 feet above the sea.”

“This pretty little Quail,” says Captain Burgess, “is an inhabitant of stony hills and bushy sides of
streams and nullahs. It lives in bevies, and is to be met with in company with the grey and black-breasted
Quails. It breeds generally during the months of November and December; but I have had its eggs
brought to me as late as March, and have procured a young bird, well fledged, as early as the 20th of
November. It does not, I believe, lay more than four eggs, as on three different occasions I have had that
number brought to me, and on a fourth, four young ones, just fledged, when out Quail-shooting. They
: were covered with down, and had the appearance of being powdered. ‘The eggs are of a pale buff colour,

1ith inch in length, by sths of an inch in width.”

Mr. Layard, speaking of the bird as seen by him in Ceylon, says, ‘‘I have only seen one pair of these
elegant little Partridges; they were caught alive at Cotta, near Colombo, in Ceylon. I have an egg which
can only belong to this bird, also found in the same locality; axis 12 lines, diam. 9 lines. It precisely
resembles a diminutive Partridge egg.”

The male has the forehead, a broad stripe above the eye, and the throat-gorget rich reddish chestnut; a
line along the lores of buffy white ; above the red superciliary stripe a second stripe of buffy white, bordered

 
 

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all the upper surface pale reddish brown, transversely
and with a small spatulate mark of buff in the centre
pularies similarly marked, but the buff marks are
feathers nearest the body ; primaries brown,
black; breast and flanks barred

h blotches of black; nape pale brown ;

irregular bars of blackish brown,
athers ; wing-coverts and sca
hich is of large size on the

posteriorly wit
crossed by numerous
of the tip of many of the fe

accompanied by a blotch of black, w
on the outer web with deep buff; tail barred with deep buff and
k; on the flanks these bars increase in size, and the greyish white is

‘rides reddish fuscous ;_ bill black ; legs and toes reddish.

The female is similarly marked, but the gorget merges into the vinaceous red of the under surface; and
the upper surface is of a darker hue, and destitute of the small spatulate markings of buff.

Another specimen, also said to be a female, has the entire plumage pale vinaceous brown, with the wings
and tail minutely and almost indistinctly freckled with brown, in the form of irregular bars.

My figures are supposed to represent the two sexes as above described; but I must observe that the
figure and description of the female was taken from a specimen unusually dark in colour, while m most in-
stances the specimens sent to this country as example inl < ; : :

J y ples of the feminine sex are more uniform, like the

a
second female above described.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natur

barred
alternately with greyish white and blac
washed with buff; centre of the abdomen buff;

al size, and a reduced group in various states of colouring.

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EXCALFATORIA CHINENSIS.

Chinese Quail.

Tetrao Chinensis, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 277.—Id. Gmel. edit., vol. i. p. 765 —Rafil. in Linn. Trans., vol. xill.
p. 324.

Coturniv Philippensis, Briss. Orn., vol. i. p. 454, sp. 17, tab. 25. fig. i.; (Svo.) vol. i. p. 71.—Bonnat. Tab. Ency.
Méth. Orn., part i. p. 223, pl. 96. fig. 3.

Perdix Chinensis, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. 11. p. 652.

Coturnix excalfatoria, Temm. Hist. Nat. des Pig. et Gall., 8vo, tom. iii. pp. 516, 743.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. xi.
Daorele

Chinese Quail, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 783.—Edw. Glean., pl. 247.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vill. p. 318.

Coturniv Chinensis, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 509.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 507, Coturniw, sp. 14.—Blyth,
Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 255.

—— flavipes, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. xi. p. 808, female.

Caille des Philippines, Buff. Pl. Enl. 126. fig. 2, female.

Perdiz Manillensis, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 655, female.

Tetrao Manillensis, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 764, female.

Petite Caille de Manille, Sonn. edit. Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vil. p. 142.

Coturnix Manillensis, Bonnat. Tab. Ency. Méth. Orn., part i. p. 221, pl. 97. fig. 4

Manilla Quail, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 790.—Id. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 321, female.

Excalfatoria Chinensis, Bonap. Tabl. Parall. des Gall., Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. des Sci., tom. xlii. séance du 12
Mai 1856.—Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part. xxvii. (1859) p. 129.

 

Hiraerro a much wider range of habitat has been assigned to this beautiful little Quail than it really
enjoys; for it has been stated that it inhabits not only China, Assam, Burmah, and many parts of India, but
that it is also found in Australia; it will be seen, however, on reference to my Handbook to the birds of
that country, that I have separated the Australian species, and indicated the particulars in which it differs
from the bird inhabiting the other countries above mentioned. Admitting, then, that the Hwealfatoria
Chinensis is found over the whole of Malasia from China to Madras, its range is still a most extensive one.

Not having had an opportunity of seeing this species in any of its numerous haunts, I am unable to give
an account of its habits and economy as the result of my own personal observation. Dr. Jerdon,
however, has in a measure supplied this desideratum in his ‘ Birds of India,’ from which I take the liberty
of extracting the following passage :—

«This beautiful little Quail is found in many parts of India, but is generally rare, except in Bengal and
the adjacent provinces, is more common in Assam, and is very abundant in Burmah. I have killed it once
only in the Carnatic; and one specimen is included in my ‘ Catalogue of Birds from Belgaum, in Western
India.’ It occurs occasionally in Central India, and in the Upper Provinces as far as Bareilly, but it is rare
“n all those localities, and perhaps only stragglers find their way so far. In Lower Bengal it is tolerably
abundant in damp grassy meadows, the edges of Indigo-fields, and in the grass on roadsides; and in
Purmeah it was the only Quail I observed. It breeds in the month of July, the eggs being pale olive-green.
When the young are full-grown they disperse all over the country; and this dispersion is greatly assisted,
and, in many parts, perhaps, caused, by the heavy inundations to which a great part of the country m Bengal
is annually subjected, generally in August or September. In the cold season they are replaced by the
Grey Quail and the so-called Rain Quail.”

To this I may append the following extract from Latham’s ‘ General History of Birds,’ coupled with the
remark that I suspect he is in error when he says that this species is trained for fighting—a_ statement
which I believe applies to a species of Zurniw :—

‘‘Inhabits China, the Philippine Islands, and various parts of India; also Java and Sumatra, there called
Pikau; is often seen in flocks of one hundred together. This bird is used, as well as the Common Quail,
to warm the hands in winter, as may be seen in various drawings and paper-hangings from China, where
they are called Chau-chin. Many of these are purchased by Europeans to be made into pies on their voyage
home, and cost three kandarins a piece. They are said to be caught by means of a call-pipe, as in Enrope.
Both this and the Common Quail are trained to fight against each other, in the manner of Game-cocks in
Europe, and much money is lost and won upon such occasions.”

In size this species is somewhat larger than its Australian ally, from which it also differs in the lighter
colouring of the back and upper surface ; the tarsi, too, are much longer and stouter, and the toes more

lengthened.

 
 

present a marked difference in their

rs of the genus, the sexes
ad and neck and the deep grey and

adornments of the he

ale so remarkable.
brown, with a lighter stripe down the centre

As is the case with all the other member
the female beng destitute of those
e which render the m

surface of an olivaceous
e light-coloured shafts; and nearly all the feathers of the

black, which, being divided by the light-coloured
ost conspicuous on the centre of the back

colouring,
chestnut of the under surfac

The male has the head and upper
of the head; some of the feathers of the back hav
upper surface are crossed near the tip with a band of
shaft, has the appearance of double spots; these are largest or m
and on the feathers of the wings nearest the body ; forehead, stripe ove
breast, and flanks deep bluish grey; chin and throat deep black, within which, beneath each eye, a
k of white; below the black, a crescent of white, the points of which are directed
line of black; centre of the abdomen, vent and under

r the eye and the sides of the neck
nia 9

moustache-like strea
behind the eye, encircling this a narrow

upwards
tail-feathers mixed chestnut and grey 5

tail-coverts rich deep chestnut-red 5
legs bright yellow.
The female is similar in the colouring and markings

the forehead and stripe over the eye buff instead of grey,
the breast), and all the under surface pale buff crossed with numerous crescentic bars of brownish black

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Areopsis peltata

bill black ; irides deep brown ;

of the upper surface, but is darker on the head, has
the chin white (passing into a gorget of buff on

 

  

 

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EXCALFACTORIA MINIMA, Gow.

Minute Quail.

Excalfactoria minima, Gould in Proce. of Zool. Soc., part xxvil. (1859) p. 128.

 

Tur oldest known species of this peculiar form of Gallimaceous birds is the Zetrao chinensis of the earlier
authors—a species whose range of habitat at least extends from China to the peninsula of India, but not, as
was formerly believed, to Australia, the bird there found proving to be distinct and having been charac-
terized by me as such under the specific term of australis. A supposed third species, believed to inhabit
New Guinea, has, like the Australian bird been named after the country it is said to inhabit. In sup-
port of the belief in its existence, I may mention that Mr. Wallace obtained on the island of Gilolo a female
(with its egg) which probably is that sex of the New Guinea bird; but it may be the female of a species
the male of which is unknown to us. In Africa, a bird of this form occurs which is quite distinct from the
others, and which has been named ddansoni by M. Verreaux. These are all very closely allied to Coturniw
on the one hand, and Synozcus on the other, but, in my opinion, have been very properly separated from both
under the generic title of Lvcalfactoria, which will doubtless be hereafter retained for them.

On comparing the bird represented on the accompanying Plate, of which Mr. Wallace brought several
specimens from Macassar, with the other members of the genus, it was found to be so very different that I
had no alternative but to regard it as distinct; and I therefore assigned to it the specific name of minima as
expressive of its diminutive size. _ It 1s, in fact, the very smallest of the Gallimacez that has yet been discovered ;
at the same time it is very similar in its general contour and markings to the other Mvcalfactorie.

The male has the forebead and sides of the head grey ; crown of the head, all the upper surface, and
wing-coverts reddish brown, conspicuously spotted and minutely freckled with brownish black; a line of
buff down the crown and uape, and a narrow line of brownish white down the centre of the feathers of the
upper surface, changing to broad conspicuous stripes of buff on the lower part of the back and tail-coverts ;
wings pale brown ; chin and throat black, within which on each side is an oblong patch of white;
below the black a broad crescent of white, fringed on the sides with black, and bounded below bya
narrow semicrescent of deep black; under surface grey, spotted on the flanks like the upper surface ;
line down the centre of the abdomen, thighs and under tail-coverts chestnut-red; bill black; feet
yellowish.

The female is very similar in the colouring and markings of the upper surface, but has the forehead and
stripe over the eye buff; the chin creamy white, gradually deepening into a gorget of buff on the breast ;
the remainder of the under surface pale buff, each feather crossed by three or four narrow, somewhat
curved bars of brownish black.

The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size.

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MALACOTURNIX SUPERCILIOSUS.

Slate-coloured Partridge.

Rollulus superciliosus, J. E. Gray, Knowsley Menagerie, p. 8, pl. xvi.
Malacoturmex, Blyth in Proc. of Zool. Soc., May 1867, p. 475.
Malacortyx superciliaris, Blyth in Ibis, July 1867, p. 313.

 

Ir gives me great pleasure to figure, in the ‘ Birds of Asia,’ both sexes of this highly curious member of the

 

Gallinacee—a bird which is, I believe, only known by two specimens in the Derby Museum at Liverpool,
and an example in the British Museum, to which establishment it was presented by Col. L’Estrange. When
the bird was figured in the first part of the late Earl of Derby’s ‘ Knowsley Menagerie,’ its native country was
unknown; and from that date, 1846, no other example had been recorded until Mr. Blyth exhibited
Col. L’Estrange’s specimen at the Meeting of the Zoological Society on the 8th of May, 1867.

‘Of this fine species,” says Mr. Blyth, ‘“ heretofore only known from a pair, male and female, in the Derby
Museum at Liverpool, which were said to have been brought from India, two examples were shot from a
flock passing overhead in the vicinity of Massooree in unusually cold weather, one of which was given to
Col. L’Estrange, of the Royal Artillery, who kindly submitted the specimen to my inspection. At the present
time so fine a species is quite an unexpected addition to the list of Indian game-birds.”

This species, the sexes of which differ very considerably in their colouring, appears to me to offer a close
alliance to Ammoperdix. fo

I cannot close this meagre account without expressing my thanks to the Trustees of the Derby Museum
at Liverpool, and to Mr. T. J. Moore, their Curator, for the loan of the late Karl of Derby’s original specimens,
the possession of which testifies to the scientific value of the fine collection bequeathed to that town by their
estimable dovor. Were additional means requisite for handing down to posterity the name of the 13th Earl
of Derby as that of a nobleman who ever took the greatest interest in zoological science, I know no other
bird so likely to answer the purpose as the present one, since it is to him that we are indebted for the first
knowledge of its existence.

Male.—tLores, chin, throat, and sides of the face and ear-coverts deep black ; forehead, a broad stripe
above and behind the eye silvery grey, each feather on the forehead with a still lighter shaft, above the light
stripe a second one of black, the centre of the hinder part of the head and nape light greyish brown ; upper
surface, tail, and under surface olive, tinged with grey on the breast and abdomen, all the feathers of both sur-
faces margined on each side with a line of black ; under tail-coverts black, every feather with a small tooth-like
mark of white on each side near the base, a similar but larger mark about two-thirds from the base, and two
coalescing oval spots of white at the tips; bill reddish; tarsi brown. ‘Total length 9 inches ; bill 3, wing 33,
tail 22, tarsi 1é.

Female.-—General tint cinnamon-brown, with a rufous edging to each feather; those of the upper
surface with light-coloured shafts and a triangular mark of dull black on the inner web near the tip,
preceded by a small mark of the same hue as the shafts; on the under surface the dark mark occupies the
centre of the tip of each feather, and is of a lanceolate form; the throat is pale greyish cinnamon, as is also
the head, where there is an indication of the superciliary stripe seen in the male, the feathers of the crown
and behind the eye being somewhat greyer than the others, and having polished shafts; on each side of the
nape a dark stripe as in the male; tail irregularly barred with black; under tail-coverts dark cinnamon,
with a stripe of black in the centre, between which and the margin is a stripe on each side, which unites
with a large patch of the same hue near the tip.

The figures are of the size of life.

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COTURNIX COROMANDELICA.

Coromandel Quail.

Tetrao Coromandelicus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat. tom. i. par. i. p. 764.

La Petite Caille de Gingi, Sonn. Voy. aux Indes, tom. 11. p. 172.

Coromandel Quail, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. iv. p. 789.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol. vii. p. 310.

Perdix Coromandelica, Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. ii. p. 654.

Coturnix textilis, Temm. Hist. Nat. des Gall. tom. iii. pp. 512 & 742.—Ib. Pl. Col. 35.—Less. Traité d’Orn. p. 509,
Atlas, pl. 90. fig. 1— Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part u. p. 153.

Coromandelica, Bonnat. et Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn. part i. p. 221.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat.

Soc. Calcutta, p. 255.—Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll. part iii. p. 38.—Gray and Mitch. Gen.
of Birds, vol. iii. p. 507, Coturniz, sp. 3.—Frankl. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc.
part i. p. 123.

Caille de la Céte de Coromandel, Sonn. Edit. Buff. Hist. des Ois. tom. vil. p. 140.

Perdix olivacea, Buchanan, Frankl. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part i. p. 123.

Coturnia textilis? v. pluvialis, Gray, Zool. Misc. p. 85.

Coturnix Coromandelicus, Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H.
Hodgson, Esq., p. 128.

Rain Quail, of Indian Sportsmen.

 

Tuis is im every respect a true Quail, or typical Coturniw ; its native country is India, over every part of
which it is dispersed, with the exception of the Himalayas, which do not offer it a congenial habitat. It
does not appear to possess the great migratory powers of the common species, but to be stationary in all
parts of India ; it is about half the size of the European bird, and is rendered remarkably different from
that and all the other members of the genus by the singular markings of the face and the black colouring
of its chest. It is a handsome little bird, and its flesh is said to be equally palatable as that of its Euro-
pean prototype. Major Franklin states that it is called Bhuterr, and that it is the most common Quail
of India; and Colonel Sykes, who met with it in pairs during the monsoon, informs us that it is gregarious
during the remainder of the year, and very abundant in the Jowaree fields (Andropogon Sorghum).

Mr. Jerdon says, ‘‘ This pretty little species is very common in most of the well-cultivated districts of
India, frequenting the fields in bevies, and also patches of grass in various situations, and low jungle. It
breeds during the monsoon: many natives consider it the male of the common species.”

The male has the head brown, with a conspicuous streak of buff down the centre; above the eye a streak
of buffy white, commencing at the forehead and extending to the nape; a brown line from the lores through
the eye to the ear; a small streak of brown from the angle of the mouth; face and throat creamy white,
bounded below by a crescent of black, some distance within which is another crescent of the same hue,
united to a broad mark of black passing down the centre of the throat; feathers of the shoulders, upper
surface, scapularies, rump and tail-feathers brown, largely blotched with black, freckled and narrowly banded
with buff, the buff bands bordered with black ; all the feathers with a conspicuous streak of pale buff
down the centre; wings pale brown, freckled with pale buff; sides of the breast sandy buff, with a narrow
whitish line down the centre of the tip; breast black, streaked with buffy white ; flanks sandy buff, streaked
with black, bounded on each side with white ; abdomen and under tail-coverts buffy white, the former con-
spicuously streaked with black ; irides reddish brown ; bill, legs and feet olive-brown.

The colouring of the female is very similar to that of the male, but the black and buff markings of the
upper surface are larger and less elegant in appearance ; there is only an indication of the markings so
conspicuous on the throat, and the under surface is sandy buff, deepest on the breast, where it is also
streaked with whitish and spotted with black ; the flanks also are not so regularly marked as in the male,
the feathers being mottled rather than streaked with buff, black and whitish.

The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size.

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TURNIX DUSSUMIERIL, Temm.
Little Hemipode.

Hemipodius Dussumieri, Temm. Pl. Col. 454. fig. 2.—Sykes, Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part
li. p. 155.—Id. Beng. Sport. Mag., 1836, pl. i. fig. 5.—Id. Trans. Zool. Soc. of Lond., vol. ii. p. 23.

Turnix Dussumieri, G. R. Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part iii. Gallina, &c., p. 41.—Id. part v.
Galiine, p. 67.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. part il. p. 599.—Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 161.

Hemipodius variabilis, Hodgs. Beng. Sport. Mag., 1837, p. 345.

Turnie Sykesi, Smith, Zool. of 8. Africa.—Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. ii. part i. p. 600.—Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 161.

Dabki of some Hindoos, Tura of others.

Chininaj of the Hindoos at Muttra.

Libbia of the Hindoos at Purneah.

Tata battera in Scinde.

Chinna, tella, or pedda daba gunalu, in Telegu.

 

Tuus little Turnix has been for a long time a sad puzzle to ornithologists, and much confusion consequently
exists respecting its synonymy. Mr. Blyth is, I believe, convinced that there is only one Species of
these little Button-Quails, as they are called by many Indian sportsman, and that the birds named Turnixr
Dussumiert and T. Sykesi are identical; and I may remark that I have never seen a bird with characters
sufficiently different to induce me to regard them as otherwise. Probably the great variation in the size
and colouring of the sexes may have been the cause of Dr. Smith and Mr. Jerdon considering them to
constitute two species. Colonel Sykes, in his valuable paper ‘‘On the Quails and Hemipodii of India ”
published in the second volume of the ‘Transactions of the Zoological Society of London,’ states that
the Zurnix Dussumiert ‘affects short grass and fields of pulse of Dolichos bifforus, Phaseolus max, and
Ervum lens,” that he ‘never found the bird otherwise than solitary,” and that “it is so difficult to flush that
it not unfrequently rises from beneath the feet; and when on the wing its flight is so abrupt, angular,
and short that it is generally down ere the gun is well up to the shoulder.”

This ‘‘ Button-Quail,” as it is called by sportsmen in India, says Mr. Jerdon, “is found in open grassy
glades in forests or jungles, both on the plains and more especially in hilly districts, and is also found in
grass jungles throughout Bengal and the countries to the eastward. It occurs throughout India in suitable
localities, is rare in the bare Deccan and North-western Provinces, and is not uncommon in open glades of
the upland districts of Malabar, in the Eastern Ghats, and in lower Bengal. It is always seen singly, in
patches of long grass, cornfields, and wherever there is thick herbage. It is flushed with great difficulty,
often, getting up at your very feet, flies but a few yards, and drops down again into the grass, not to be
re-flushed but after a most laborious search, and sometimes allowing itself to be caught by the hand or bya
dog. Its name of Dadki, signifying ‘ squatter,’ is given from this habit. It emits a low plaintive moan of
a single note. I regret that I know nothing of its habits as to breeding, &c.”

Feathers of the crown light brown, with dark margins; line over the eye and the ear-coverts light
fulvous; back of the neck bright rust-red; upper surface reddish brown, barred with dark brown, these
bars being most conspicuous on the lower part of the back and the rump; scapularies, and some of the
contiguous back-feathers margined with yellowish cream-colour; wing-coverts pale sandy brown, with a
black spot near the pale-yellowish-margined tip; primaries dark brown, narrowly margined with yellowish
white; chin and upper part of the throat white, remainder of the under surface rusty red, richest on the
upper half of the abdomen and the breast ; bill yellow ; irides yellowish white ; legs and feet deep yellow.

The plate represents the two sexes of the size of life.

 
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TURNIX FASCIATUS, Temm.

Fasciated Hemipode.

Hemipodius fasciatus, Temm. Hist. Nat. Gén. des Pig. et des Gall., tom. iii. pp. 634 and 757.

Turniz fasciatus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ili. p. 511, Turniz, sp. 14.

——— fasciata, Bonap. Tab. Parall. de ’Ordre des Gallinacés in Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. des Sci., tom. xlii.
Mai 12, 1856.

 

Mr. Wattace has sent several examples of a species of Zurniv from Macassar, which I have but little
doubt are referable to the Hemipodius fasciatus of Temminck, who states that he took his description from a
specimen in the Paris Museum, which was said to have been received from the Philippine Islands, and
which up to the present moment has remained unique; the acquisition then of additional examples of this
rare bird by Mr. Wallace is a further evidence of the great service his explorations have rendered to the
cause of ornithological science.

As no figure of the bird has been previously published either in this country or on the continent, I trust
some interest will attach to those here given, which represent both sexes of the size of life, or perhaps
a trifle smaller.

The sexes present the usual difference in the smaller size of the male, but, contrary to the general
rule with regard to this group of birds, are very similarly coloured. :

Specimens of both sexes, procured by Mr. Wallace, are contained in the National Collection and in my own.

The male has the head mottled with black and brown, and a line of buffy white down the centre; face
buffy white speckled with black ; back light reddish brown, gradually passing into deep rust-red on the lower
part, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; a few of the feathers of the upper part of the back with a crescent of
black, succeeded by another of buffy white at the tip; the lower or redder part rayed transversely with
black ; wings brown, each of the coverts with a large spot of black near the tip, and tipped with buffy white ;
primaries edged, and secondaries mottled and edged on their external webs with pale reddish brown; chin
buff; neck, breast, and upper half of the flanks crossed by numerous fasciz of buffy white and black, which
increase in size as they descend from the throat; centre of the abdomen buff; lower half of the flanks,
vent, thighs, and under tail-coverts sandy red; bill and feet greenish yellow.

In the female the general arrangement of the colours is very similar, but the forehead and sides of the
head are much darker, approaching to black, and these black feathers are tipped with white, forming a mottled
line over each eye; the line down the centre of the head is grey; the markings of the wings are bolder,
and the fasciz which commence on the chin are narrower and more numerous.

The Plate represents the two sexes about the size of life.

 
 

 

 

 
 

 
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LOBIOPHASIS CASTANEICAUDATU S, Sharpe.
Chestnut-tailed Lobed Pheasant.

Lobiophasis castaneicaudatus, Sharpe, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1877, p. 94.

 

Tuar a second species of Lobiophasis might occur in Borneo seemed to me always probable ; but I scarcely
expected that this would so soon become a reality. We are indebted for its discovery to His Excellency
Mr. H. T. Ussher, one of our most enlightened colonial governors; and scientific men have not been disap-
pointed in their hope that he would continue in Borneo the excellent work which he had done in Western
Africa. The present species has been sent from the Lawas river, situated in north-western Borneo, oppo-
site Labuan. From the fact that Bulwer’s Pheasant comes from the same locality, Mr. Bowdler Sharpe, in
describing this new species, suggests that it may be only LZ. bulwert in its second year’s plumage. This
seems to me highly improbable. There is nothing about the specimen, which I have carefully examined,
to indicate immaturity, the well-formed spurs and the completeness of the plumage appearing to me to be
signs of a fully adult male Pheasant. When we consider, too, the way in which the members of the genus
Euplocamus are distributed in the Himalayas, each species so closely allied, yet possessing a distinct habitat,
we cease to wonder at the probability of two species of Lobophasis being found side by side on the moun-
tains which boader the Lawas river.

The following description is taken from the original specimens :-—

“¢ Yale. Crown of head somewhat crested, dark chestnut brown ; sides of face bare, as well as small pen-
dent lobe at the gape; hind neck purplish brown; throat scantily clothed with dull brown plumes ; lower
throat, chest, and neck all round rich maroon, the plumes of the hinder part and sides of the neck narrowly
tipped with metallic steel-blue; back blackish, all the feathers with a metallic steel-blue tip, with a subter-
minal shade of velvety black, some of the dorsal plumes subterminally maroon; rump and upper tail-coverts
black, edged with dull metallic steel-blue; tail chestnut; wing-coverts black, with metallic steel-blue tips ;
quills black, the primaries browner ; breast and abdomen blackish brown, the sides of the breast slightly
washed with metallic purple; inner lining of wings ashy black. Total length 22 inches, culmen 1°6,
wing 11, tail 7°5, tarsus 3-30.

‘«¢ Female. General colour above brown, strongly washed with lighter or ochraceous brown, the whole
upper surface coarsely vermiculated with blackish wavy lines, the wing-coverts rather more rufous and
waved in the same manner as the back ; quills blackish, coarsely vermiculated with deep ochre, the prima-
ries only on the outer web, the secondaries on both, but less distinctly on the inner one ; tail deep chestnut,
with obscure wavy vermiculations of black ; sides of face and lower throat sandy brown, with narrow mesial
streaks of fulvous; throat ashy fulvous; under surface of body deep ochraceous brown, brighter on the fore
neck and chest, everywhere minutely vermiculated with black, the feathers sheathed down the centre with
ochre; the centre of the abdomen dusky brown; inner lining of quills ashy blackish. Total length 20
inches, wing 11, tail 7-5, tarsus 15.”

The birds are represented in the Plate about four fifths the natural size.

 

 
 

 

 

 

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LOBIOPHASIS BULWERIL, Sharpe.

Bulwer’s Pheasant.

Lobiophasis Bulweri, Sharpe, Ann, N. H. 1874, 4th series, vol. xiv. p. 373.

 

Numerous as have been the valuable acquisitions rendered to ornithology during the last few years by the
opening up of the great countries of China, Yunan, and the vast territories lying between our Indian frontier
and the Celestial Empire, there has not been one fraught with greater interest than the fine Pheasant figured
in the accompanying Plate.

This beautiful bird is a native of Borneo; and at first sight it might seem as if it might have been kept in
one or other of the numerous genera of gallinaceous birds. It might be considered closely allied to the
Euplocamus Swinhoei or the lovely Diardigallus prelatus; but on closer examination it will be found to differ
not only from these birds, but from every other form of Pheasant yet discovered ; and I quite agree with
Mr. Sharpe, who has had the honour of describing this magnificent species, that its generic separation
was necessary.

Its chief peculiarity lies in its naked face, its fleshy horns, and peculiar pendent wattles. Its tail also exhibits
characters which will at once separate it from all other known Phasianine forms, for the number of tail-feathers
and the curious denuded shafts of the outer ones render this, again, very different from that of any other
game-bird. That it is a graceful as well as a very curious species is evident from its slender form and
thinly built legs, which, being bright red in colour, contrast strongly with its blue face and ornamental
wattles.

At present only a single example of this rare bird has been discovered ; and it seems to me strange that
such a large and remarkable species should not have been sent home before, particularly as for the last
fifty years Borneo has been visited by so many collectors. Mr. Wallace never seems to have heard of the
existence of such a Pheasant in Borneo; but it is just possible that the bird mentioned to the Marquis Doria as
being found in Borneo (cf. Salvad. Ucc. Born. p. 306) was, after all, this new Pheasant.

The following is Mr. Sharpe’s original description :—‘ Above brown, all the feathers terminally margined
with metallic purple, of a harsh texture ; the neck-hackles similarly coloured; but here, owing to the
individual plumes being divided, the general appearance of the metallic colouring is more spotted than on the
back and upper tail-coverts, where the terminal metallic margins produce a somewhat barred appearance ;
wing-coverts uniform with the back, and having the same metallic spots ; quills light brown, the outer primary
with a pale whity-brown margin; the secondaries darker, and the innermost terminally margined with the
same metallic colour as the back ; lower back and rump-feathers uniform with rest of back, but the greater
upper tail-coverts white, like the whole of the tail; head bare, with a large horn or wattle on each side of
the occiput, and with a long pendent wattle on each side of the throat; round the hind neck a coliar of
dull maroon, all the feathers obscurely margined with metallic purple; chest also dull maroon, similarly
obscured by purplish margins, which become broader and more distinct on the breast, which is black like the
rest of the under surface, the metallic margins disappearing on the flanks and abdomen; under wing-
coverts also dull brown, like the inner margin of the wing.

“Total length 28 inches, wing 11-5, tail 16°5, tarsus 3°4, pendent lobes 1°25.

‘«« Hab. Mountains of Lanos, Northern Borneo.

«The unique specimen from which the above description has been taken has been presented to the
Trustees of the British Museum by His Excellency H. E. Bulwer, C.M.G., Governor of Labuan. The
wattles and ornaments on the face are stated to have been bright ultramarine in life.”

To give an idea of the size of this fine creature I wust inform my readers that the figure in the Plate is
not more than two thirds the size of life. It has been drawn from the unique type in the British Museum,
to the authorities of which I am indebted for the temporary loan of the specimen, which has enabled me to
prepare the accompanying Plate from the talented pencil of Mr. Wolf.

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EUPLOCAMUS LINEATUS, Pigors.

Lineated Pheasant.

Lophophorus Cuvieri, Temm. Pl. Col., v. pl. 1 (1820, hybrid).

Lineated Pheasant, Lath. Gen. Hist. B., viii. p. 201.

Phasianus lineatus, Vigors, P. Z.S., 1831, p. 24 (ex Lath. MS.).—Jerdon, B. Ind., iii. p. 531.—Beavan, Ibis, 1868,
p. 381.

Genneus lineatus, Wagler, Isis, 1832, p. 1228.

Phasianus Reynaudi, Lesson, in Bélanger, Voy. Ind. Orient. Zool., p. 276, pls. 8, 9.

Phasianus fasciatus, M‘Clell. Calcutta Journ, N. H., 1. p. 146, pl. 3.

Lophophorus leucomelas, Gray, List of Genera, 1840, p. 60.

Alectrophasis leuwcomelanos, Gray, List of Genera, 1841, p. 78.

Gallophasis fasciatus, Gray, Gen. B., il. p. 498.

Euplocamus lineatus, Gray, List of Genera, p. 78.—Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B., p. 244.—Sclater, P. Z.5., 1863,
p. 120.—Id. text to Wolf’s Zool. Sketches, 2nd ser. pl. 38.—Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 153.—Gray, List of
Galline, p. 34.—Gray, Hand-l. B., ii. p. 260.—Elliot, Monogr. Phasian., il. pl. xxxiui.

Grammatoptilus lineatus, Reichenb. Syst. Av., p. 30.

 

Ir there is one species more than another which unites the two sections of the genus Euplocamus (that is

_ to say the Kaleeges) with the Silver Pheasant, it is the present bird. The largely developed facial wattle,
the finely pencilled plumage extending over the whole upper surface, and the form of the tail incline it
to the Silver Pheasant (G@allophasis nycthemerus) ; but then the latter species and its immediate allies are
distinguished by their bright red legs, while in the present bird they are bluish grey. This may seem
to many a character of slight importance; but to my mind it is not so, for I find the colour of the legs
in these Pheasants of great differential value. Those who know our Silver Pheasant, the beautiful
Euplocamus Swinhoei, or its elegant congener L. prelatus, and the still more curious Lodiophasis Bulweri,
will remember that all these birds have delicate legs of a bright red colour, whereas the present bird and
all the Kaleeges have them dark-coloured. I lay the greater stress on this point because Mr. Elliot,
in his noble monograph of the family, has given bright red legs to H. albocristatus; but this must be
an oversight, for I find that Dr. Jerdon gives them as “dark horny,” which accords with my own
experience. Again, in the description of the present species, he gives the legs as red, whereas they
are figured brown in the plate; and that the latter is correct will be found on a reference to Wolf’s
plate in the ‘ Zoological Sketches,’ taken from the living bird.

As is the case with most of the members of the genus Luplocamus, of which allied species interbreed on
the confines of their respective ranges, the Lineated Pheasant is often found crossed with H. Horsfieldi ;
and were hybrids to be noticed, it would stand as Euplocamus Cuviert, as our first notice of the species
was in 1820, when Temminck figured a hybrid specimen. Concerning this I may with advantage quote
Mr. Blyth’s remarks :—

«The Lophophorus Cuvier? represents one of the hybrid races referred to, between Gadlophasis lineatus and
G. Horsfieldi. These completely pass one into the other in the province of Arakan, whence some living
specimens have been received by the Zoological Society. In like manner @. albocristatus and G. melanonotus
interbreed in the intermediate province of Nipal, G@. melanonotus being the species inhabiting Sikkim and
Butan, where most assuredly G. Zineatus is unknown, the latter inhabiting southward of the range of
G. Horsfieldi, i. e. in Pegu and the Tenasserim provinces, where I have personally observed it in the
forests.”

Captain Beavan writes as follows :—‘ Dr. Jerdon mentions the singular drumming noise made by the
male, With respect to Euplocamus lneatus, which is, in my opinion, a true Kalleege, I may mention that
the Burmese take advantage of this habit of the birds, and by imitating it with a rough kind of machine
catch numbers of the latter species. It is like the crow of a cock, a kind of challenge uttered by one male
to excite another to a battle—‘ in defiance of his fellows.’ ”

Mr. Elliot further observes :—‘‘ Mr. Blyth informs me that the natives snare a cock bird of this species,

uy and secure him near the jungles, when his cries serve to bring the males who may be within hearing into the

 

open, looking for their antagonist, whom they immediately attack, thus giving the concealed gunner an
} opportunity to shoot them ; and in this way many birds are obtained. Of course it is only the cocks which

are procured, the hens never paying any attention to the crowing, but remaining quietly in the forest.”

 
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ribed from Mr. Elhiot’s ‘Monograph’? :—

The following descriptions are transc
Rest of head, neck, and entire upper parts black

« Vale.—Head with a long occipital black crest.

finely vermiculated with white. Inner web of middle t
diagonal white lines. Primaries brown, crossed with fine

ail-feathers buff; outer black, crossed with white

zigzag lines; rest of tail-feathers black, with
white lines. Breast and underparts bluish black.
“«¢ Female.—Head and occipital crest dark brow

Centre of flank-feathers white. Bare skin of face red.
n, mottled with light brown; neck and upper part of back
light brown, with V-shaped white marks near the end of the feathers, divided from the brown edges by a
line of black; rest of back, wings, and upper tail-coverts greyish brown, finely mottled with bladaan
brown. Chin whitish brown. Breast and flanks rufous brown; shafts and centre of feathers white, with
black lines around their edges. Abdomen and rest of parts
Central tail-feathers buff, mottled with black on inner webs ; remainder black, irregularly crossed with white
lines. Bill: upper mandible black, lower horn-colour. Feet lead-colour.” |

The Plate represents the male and female of this Pheasant, of about three quarters of the natural size

black, the feathers tipped with chestnut

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EUPLOCOMUS VIEILLOTI, G. R. Gray.

Vieillots Fireback.

Gallus ignitus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., t. 207.

Phasianus ignitus, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., Part I. p. 363. ple Zove io 2:

Euplocomus ignitus, Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool., vol. i. pl. 39.

Gallophasis Vieilloti, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 498, Gallophasis, sp. 2.
Euplocomus Vieilloti, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., Part III. p. 26.

 

Mr. G. R. Gray has, in my opinion, very properly separated this fine bird from the Gallus ignitus of authors,
and assigned to it the specific name of Vieilloti, as no two birds can well be more distinct ; the 7gntus having
the abdomen and back rich chestnut, with half of the central tail-feathers brown ; while, as will be seen on
reference to the accompanying Plate, the same parts in the present bird are very differently coloured. The
native country of the H. Vieiloti is the Peninsula of Malacca, Sumatra, and the Indian Archipelago. The
fine aviary of the late Earl of Derby formerly contained living examples of both sexes of this fine bird, and

 

I believe his Lordship succeeded in rearing a brood from them ; but owing to the want of a congenial climate,

Vy or from some other cause, the race was not perpetuated. A like opportunity has not yet been afforded to
; E the Zoological Society, whose Gardens in the Regent’s Park have hitherto only been graced by the male; a
/ | fine example of which now (September 1852) forms part of the collection, is apparently in the best possible
f state of health, and is the individual figured on the opposite Plate. At the period just prior to the breeding
/ season, this species appears to be subject to influences of a more strongly exciting kind than is observable in

any other of the Gallinacez: not only is it restless in the highest degree, and spirited and exalted in its
carriage, but the carunculations surrounding the eye are developed to an extraordinary extent, covering the
entire face, extending upwards far above the crown of the head, and descending equally below, the colour
being a delicate czerulean blue, in the centre of which is set a full eye of the brightest scarlet. Let us hope
that the time will not be long before other examples of this fine bird will be added to the Society’s already
rich collection, and that a successful result will attend their breeding; for a finer or more ornamental bird
for our aviaries could scarcely be found.

As will be seen, a very marked difference occurs in the colours of the sexes.

The male has the crest, neck, upper part. of the back and breast deep steel-blue; wing-coverts and
feathers on the centre of the back black, passing into greenish steel-blue, forming a conspicuous shining
crescent at the tip of each feather; lower part of the rump rich deep shining red; wings very dark
brown; upper tail-coverts steel-blue; outer webs and tips of the inner webs of the four central tail-
feathers white; the remainder of the tail-feathers very dark brown; feathers of the flanks dark brown,
tipped with steel-blue and with a conspicuous streak of white down the centre; abdomen brownish black ;
carunculated orbits rich blue ; eye red; bill horn-colour ; legs and feet red.

The female has the whole of the upper surface, wings and tail chestnut-red, very minutely freckled with
a dark brown; feathers of the throat and breast dark brown, largely tipped with chestnut-red, and margined

on the sides with white; on the under surface the feathers are of a darker hue and margined all round with
white ; orbits, eye, bill, legs and feet as in the male, but not so brilliant.
The figures represent the two sexes two-thirds of the natural size.

 

   
 
 

 

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EUPLOCAMUS SWINHOLI, Gowia.

Swinhoe’s Fireback.

/ Euplocamus Swinhott, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1862, p. 284.—Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc, L863, p: 119——
Swinh. in Ibis, 1863, p. 401.

 

Few of Her Majesty’s Consuls have more assiduously availed themselves of the opportunities afforded them
of collecting the birds of the distant regions in which they have been located than Mr. Swinhoe ; and fewer
still have shown greater acumen in discriminating and poiting out the distinctions which separate nearly
allied species. It is but a just tribute, then, to the merits of this gentleman, that so remarkable and beautiful
a bird as the one here figured should be named in his honour. The discovery of a small Warbler, or a new
species of Finch, would not be destitute of interest ; but how much more important is the acquisition of a
highly ornamental addition to the Gallinacee! The two specimens, male and female, collected by Mr. Swin-
hoe in the little-known Island of Formosa are now in the British Museum, and are well worthy of the mspec-
tion, not only of the ornithologist, but of every lover of nature.

In size, this new bird is somewhat smaller than the Common Silver Pheasant (Genneus nychthemerus), which
it resembles in its red wattles and in the form of its tail ; while in its strong legs and the scaly, stiff feathers of
the lower part of its back it more closely assimilates to the members of the genus Euplocamus, and with
that group I have accordingly associated it.

After stating that the true Pheasant inhabiting the Island of Formosa is identical with the Chmese Phasi-
anus torguatus, Mr. Swinhoe says :—

«T was informed by my hunters that a second species of Pheasant, which was denominated by the Chinese
colonists Wa-koé, was found in the interior mountains; that it was a true jungle-bird, frequenting the wild
hill-ranges of the aborigines. and rarely descending to the lower hills that border on the Chinese territory ;
and that in the evening and early morning the male was in the habit of showing himself on an exposed branch,
or roof of a savage’s hut, uttering his crowing, defiant note, while he strutted and threw up his tail like a rooster.
I offered rewards and encouraged my men to do their utmost to procure me specimens of this bird, and I
was so far successful that I managed to obtain a pair ; but, in my trip to the interior, it was in vain that I
sought to get a view of it in its native haunts, and to make acquaintance with it in a state of nature.

‘The female was brought to me on the Ist of April, soon after it was shot,—the heat of the weather com-
pelling the hunters to skin it before they could reach me. It was, however, quite fresh enough to enable me
to note the tints of the soft parts.”

The male has the forehead black, gradually blending into the snowy white lanceolate plumes which form
a slight crest, and continue in a narrow line down the nape of the neck; back snowy white, offering a strong
contrast to the narrow black line with which it is bounded on each side, and the rich fiery chestnut of the scapu-
laries ; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts intense velvety black, broadly margined with
shining steel or bluish black, these scale-like feathers gradually becoming of a larger size and of a more
uniform black as they approach the tail-feathers; wings blackish brown, the greater and lesser coverts
fringed with green; two centre tail-feathers snow-white, the remainder black; the somewhat elongated
feathers of the chest and flanks black, with shining blue reflexions; thighs and under tail-coverts dull
black; sides of the face wattled to an extent seldom seen even among Gallinaceous birds, in front
extending to the nostrils, while posteriorly it terminates in a point near the occiput; a large lappet
hangs down over each cheek, and a more pointed one rises, in the form of a horn, high above the crown,
the whole being of the finest crimson, and covered with papillz, as in the Genneéus nychthemerus ; legs
bright pink-vermilion ; soles a light, dirty ochreous ; toes the same, patched with blackish.

The female offers a strong contrast to the male, from there being no appearance of acrest, and in the entire
plumage being reddish or orange-brown, particularly the under surface; when examined in detail, however,
many different but harmonizing tints are seen on the various parts of the body; on the back of the neck,
apularies, and lesser wing-coverts, the freckled brown feathers have lanceolate or spearhead-shaped
rounded with black down their centres, while the rump and upper tail-coverts are more
uniformly and more finely freckled with orange and dark brown ; primaries alternately barred on both sur-
faces with chestnut and dark brown; secondaries dark brown, conspicuously barred with ochre-yellow ; throat
chest orange-brown, each feather with two crescentic markings of dark brown ; centre of the

mantle, sc
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brownish grey 5

abdomen and thighs orange-brown, slightly freckled with darker brown ; two centre tail-feathers dark brown,

obscurely barred with buff; lateral tail-feathers nearly uniform deep chestnut ; naked patch on cheek red.
The Plate represents the male and female, the former about two-thirds of the natural size.

 
 

 

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GENNAUS NYCTHEMERUS.

Pencilled Pheasant.

Phasianus nycthemerus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 272.—Ib. Gmel. edit., tom. i. p. 743.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii.
p. 631.—Temm. Hist. Nat. Gen. des Pig. et Gall., tom. 11. p. 281, et tom. ili. p. 665, pl. anat. 2.
figs. 6, 7.—Ib. Man. d’Orn., 2nd edit. tom. 1. p. 90.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 495.—Jard. Nat. Lib.
Gallinaceous Birds, p. 207, pl. 18.—Bonnat. Ency. Méth. Orn., part i. p. 187, pl. 89. fig. 1. male, and
fig. 1. no. 2. female.

SSS alhis sinensis, Briss. Orns tom. ip, 276 lde Svo, tome yp! 77.

Le Faisan noir et blane de la Chine, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. il. p. 359.—Ib. PI. Enl. 123, 124.

The Black and White Chinese Pheasant, Edw. Nat. Hist., vol. ii. pl. 66.—Albin, Hist. of Birds, vol. ili. p. 35.

Pencilled Pheasant, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 719.—Ib. Gen. ist. vol: vale p) 199)

Nycthemerus argentatus, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. i. p. 34.

Gallophasis Nycthemerus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 498.

Euplocomus nycthemerus, Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus., part ii. p. 25.

Gennaeus, Wagl., Bonap. Tab. par. des Gall. in Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. des Sci., tom. xli.., Mai 12, 1856.

Grammatoptilos, Reichenb.

Spreifer, Kaup.

 

Tuts familiar and ornamental species will be found described in the early works of Linnzus, Brisson, and
Latham, the first of whom assigned to it the specific appellation of nycthemerus, an appellation which it has
retained to the present day, although attempts have been made to set it aside; its generic name too, as
will be seen on reference to the list of synonyms, has been subject to much mutation, each of the modern
authors who have considered it desirable to separate it from the true Pheasants (genus Piasianus) having
proposed a separate title; of these, that of Genneus, instituted by Wagler, having the priority, is necessarily
and very properly the one retained. It is somewhat astonishing, however, to find that although so many
authors have noticed this bird, not one of them has recorded anything of its habits, manners, and economy in
a state of nature; most of them content themselves with simply stating that it is an inhabitant of China ;
but Sir William Jardine, in the volume on the Gallinacee in his ‘“ Naturalist’s Library,” gives the northern
parts of that great country as its habitat.

From the date of its first introduction to Europe it has been regarded as a bird more fitted for the aviary
than for a denizen of our woods; and it is one of the birds which, so treated, has rewarded us for our
pains; it may indeed be said to be completely naturalized m a domesticated state, and it could doubtless be
established in our woods were such a measure desirable ; but to effect this with success, no other species of
Pheasant must be kept within its precincts, the pugnacious nature of this tribe of birds not admitting of the
near proximity of two species, as the certain result would be a constant succession of battles, ending, as is
known to be the case when the common domestic Cock and Pheasant meet, in the death of the weaker bird.

Our country is not perhaps, after all, well adapted either for this bird or its near allies the Ewplocom:,
recently brought to this country, and so successfully bred in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London.

Few birds can be more interesting as ornaments for our aviaries, and as such I pray they may be kept, or at

least confined to some limited area; for no good can result if they should hybridize with our Common
Pheasant.

«The Birds of Asia” is not the place wherein to describe in detail the breeding and domestic habits of
this bird in the aviary; but I may state that it bears confinement well, and, with but ordinary care, its propa-
gation is attended with success. It is both a noble and a graceful bird, and were it less common, would be
more highly esteemed. After the autumn moult, its pencilled markings are exceedingly delicate and graceful ;
and as spring advances, its rich comb and wattles become enlarged and of a most vivid scarlet, offering a
striking contrast to its delicate pea-green bill. The colouring of the female is altogether as sombre; and a
greater contrast cannot well be imagined.

I am indebted to Edward L. Betts, Esq., of Preston Hall near Maidstone, for the splendid specimen from
which my figure was taken, that gentleman having,
to select the finest male from his aviary for the furtherance of this work.

with the greatest kindness and liberality, permitted me

The male has the crown of the head, the lengthened crest, and the whole of the under surface deep black
glossed with blue ; the remainder of the plumage white, each feather with three dusky lines, one within
another, parallel to the margin, but meeting in a point towards the tip—these markings being conspicuous
on the sides of the body and wings, and faint and delicate on the sides of the neck and upper surface of the
body; tail obliquely striated with black, except the two middle feathers, which are entirely white ; irides
dark brown; wattles and face vivid scarlet ; bill pea-green ; legs lake-red.

The female is brown, freckled with darker brown; orbits smaller and less brilliant than in the male.

The front figure is as near the natural size as possible.

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CATREUS WALLICHI.

Cheer.

Lophophorus Wallicht, Hardw. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 166.
Phasianus Wallichii, Gray & Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 497, Phasianus, sp. 4.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii.
pt. 2. p. 527.
Staceii, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 35.—Gould, Cent. of Birds,
pl. 68.
Catreus Wallichi, Bonap. Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. des Sci., tom. xlii. séance du 12 Mai, 1856.
Chir, Cheor, Banchil, and Herril in various parts of the Himalayas ; Kahir in Nepaul.

 

Tur Cheer has for the last few years been an object of great interest to those persons who have endeavoured
to introduce additional species of the Gallinacee into our woods and coverts; their attempts, however, have
not as yet been attended with any great degree of success ; for although the present bird has bred in the
Gardens of the Zoological Society, at Viscount Hill’s at Hawkstone, and at the Earl of Craven’s at Ashdown,
it has not in either case furnished any evidence that its introduction would be beneficial for sport or for the
table. Lord Craven has obtained a cross between this bird and our common Pheasant; but, as might be
expected, it is a decided mule, and incapable of propagation. To all those who may not have oppor-
tunities for observing the Cheer in a state of nature, the sight of it in our menageries must be interesting ;
but there, in my opinion, the interest ceases.

I take the liberty of here transferring Major-General Hardwicke’s original account of this species, and also
a lengthened extract from the ‘ Bengal Sporting Magazine,’ in which ‘« Mountaineer ” has given an interesting
account of its habits and economy.

“The local name of this bird is Cheer. It is a native of the Almorah Hills, on the north-eastern boundary
of Hindostan, is remarkably bold, and fights with great vigour on the least irritation, at the same time
raising its feathers and prating with a noise which resembles the word tuckraa, tuckraa, several times
repeated.”

Mr. Jerdon informs us that “this fine though plain-coloured Pheasant is only found in the north-western
Himalayas, extending into Nepaul, where, however, it is not so common as further west.” ‘‘It is,” says
“«« Mountaineer,” “an inhabitant of the lower and intermediate ranges, is seldom found at very great elevations,
and never approaches the limits of forest. Its haunts are on grassy hills, with a scattered forest of oak and
small patches of underwood, hills covered with the common pine, near the sites of deserted villages, old
cow-sheds, and the long grass among precipices and broken ground. It is seldom found on hills destitute
of trees or jungle, or in the opposite extreme of deep shady forest ; in the lower ranges it keeps near the tops of
the hills, and is rarely met with in the valleys or deep ravines. It wanders about a good deal on the particular
hill on which it is located, but not beyond certain boundaries, remaining about one spot for several days or
weeks, then shifting to another, but never entirely abandoning the place, and, year after year, may to a
certainty be found in some quarter of it. It runs very fast, and, if the ground be open and no cover near,
will run two or three hundred yards in preference to getting up. After concealing itself, it hes very close.

“The crow of this bird is loud and singular, and, when there is nothing to interrupt the sound, may be
heard for at least a mile. It is something like the words chir-a-pir, chir-a-pir, chir-chir, chirwa-chirwa, but
a good deal varied ; it is often begun before daylight.

“The Cheer-Pheasant feeds chiefly on roots, for which it digs holes in the ground ; grubs, insects, seeds,
and berries, and, if near cultivated fields, several kinds of grain also form a portion of its diet. It is easy
to rear in confinement, and might, without difficulty, be naturalized in England, if it would stand the long
frosts and snows of severe winters, which I imagine is rather doubtful. The female makes her nest in the
grass or amongst low bushes, and lays from nine to fourteen eggs, of a dull white, and rather small for so
large a bird. They are hatched about the end of May or beginning of June. Both male and female keep
with the young brood, and seem very solicitous for their safety.

“This bird flies rather heavily, and seldom very far. Like most others, it generally utters a few loud
screeches on getting up, and spreads out the beautifully barred feathers of its long tail, both when flying and
running. It does not perch much on trees, but will occasionally fly up into one near at hand when put up by
dogs. It generally sleeps on the ground; and when congregated together, the whole flock huddle up in one
spot. They will, however, at times roost in trees or bushes.”

The male has the feathers of the head and crest dark ashy grey, with somewhat lighter edges ; neck hght
ash-colour, slightly barred on the lower part with dusky black ; neck, back, upper surface, shoulders, and
wing-coverts barred with buff, ashy grey, and brownish black, with which latter hue the two former are

 
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and irregular markings of buff; two central tail-feathers
and brownish olive, largely blotched and «spotted Wien
with deep buff and rich chestnut, bounded above

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tail-coverts are rich rusty,
partially margined and crossed by
alternately barred with pale bufty yellow

brown; the lateral tail-feathers are alternately barred
and below with broad irregular marks of blackish brown; throat and breast yellowish ash-colour, crossed

with a few curved black bars ; abdomen dark brown 5 feathers clothing the thighs and vent yellowish
brown, with irregular marks of brown in the centre of each; bill pale greenish olive-colour ; cere scarlet ;
orbits bright red, inclining to purple ; irides brown; legs and feet bluish white.

The female generally resembles the male, but is of smaller size and is destitute of the crest and spurs, has
much more rufous on the feathers of the back and wings, each of which, moreover, has a line of buff down
the shaft ; she is destitute of the rufous hue on the rump, but, on the other hand, has the abdomen of that
ark markings of the breast of a striated instead of a barred form; the

tint, though not so bright, and the d
much less brilliant, and their freckling of a more

barrings of the tail, too, are less distinct, their hue 1s

minute kind.
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THAUMALEA PICTA.
Golden Pheasant.

Phasianus pictus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. 1. p. 272.—Id. Gmel. Edit., tom. i. p. 743.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii.
p. 630.—Shaw, Mus. Lev., p. 206, pl. 50.—Pall. Zoog. Ross.-Asiat., tom. ii. p. 86.—Temm. Man.
d’Orn., 2nde édit., tom. i. p. xe.—Id. Hist. Nat. Gén. des Pig. et Gall., tom. ii. p. 341, et vol. iii.
p- 671.—Benn. Gard. and Menag. Zool. Soc. del. Birds, p. 59.

sanguineus, Klein, Aves, 114. 3.

—_—— aureus Sinensis, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 271.

Faisan doré de la Chine, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. ii. p. 355.—Id. Pl. Enl. 217.

Painted, or Gold Pheasant, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 717.—Edw. Nat. Hist., of Birds, pl. 68, male, pl. 69, low.
fig., female.

——— Pheasant, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 194,

Thaumalea picta, Wagl., Isis, 1832.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 497, Thaumalea, sp. 1.—Gray, List of
Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part iii. p. 24.—Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 117.—
Schrenck, Vog. des Amur-landes, p. 521.

Chrysolophus pictus, Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. pl.

Epomas picta, Hodgs.

 

Arnoux this beautiful bird has been a denizen of our aviaries for upwards of a hundred years, we
know no more of its history or of the districts of China it inhabits than we did when the illustrious
Swede characterized it as Phasianus pictus; and what Latham wrote respecting it half a century ago
is all that can be said about it at the present day.

It is reported to frequent the northern rather than the southern portion of China. Mr. Sclater gives as
its habitat ‘‘ Southern Datiria and the eastern part of the Desert of Mongolia, advancing in summer sometimes
up to the Amoor; also the provinces of Kansu and Sechuen, in the interior of China, whence, Mr. Swinhoe
informs us, living examples are brought into Canton for sale.”

Latham says, ‘The native place of this beautiful species is China, where it is called Atnki or Kinkee,
which signifies Gold-flower Fowl, or Wrought Fowl. As it is a hardy bird, attempts have been made to
naturalize it in our climate, and many pairs have been turned out for this purpose, but, it is to be lamented,
without success, the birds having in every instance been shot by some greedy and improvident sportsman,
and we do not know of its breeding at large anywhere in Europe. It bears confinement well, and there
breeds freely; hence any further importation from its native country seems needless. The flavour of its
flesh is reported to exceed that of our species. The sexes are said to be subject to considerable change of
appearance, and Edwards mentions that the females of some kept by Lady Essex in the space of six years
gradually gained the male feathers ; and we have been informed that it is not unusual for the hens, when
about four or five years old, to be neglected by the cocks and gradually to gain the plumage of the other sex.”

The head of the male is ornamented with a silky crest of fine amber-yellow feathers, those at the back of
the head and neck being much prolonged, square at the ends, and of a rich orange-red, with a transverse
narrow bar of blackish blue at the tip; at the will of the bird, these feathers are capable of being raised and
brought forward, so as nearly to meet at the front of the neck; the feathers of the upper half of the back
are of a dark glossy green, bordered at their rounded tips with a narrow band of velvety black; lower part
of the back and rump rich wax-yellow ; wing-coverts mottled dark brown and chestnut; greater coverts and
spurious wing blackish brown with deep buff shafts and a line of the same hue along the margin of the
outer web; primaries dark brown, with a broad band of pale buff along the basal two-thirds of the outer
web, beyond which the apical portion of the shaft becomes of the same tint ; secondaries dark brown, mottled
with chestnut on their outer margins ; tertiaries deep rich blue; cheeks flesh-coloured, sparingly clothed
with feathers of the same tint; throat light orange-brown, all the under surface intense scarlet ; upper tail-
coverts long, narrow, of a rich crimson, and falling down on each side of the tail; two centre tail-feathers
deep or blackish brown, mottled with numerous irregularly shaped blotches of buffy brown arranged in a
series of diagonal rows; the remaining tail-feathers crossed diagonally with alternate wavy bands of dark
and buffy brown, which become deeper in colour and less diagonal as the feathers recede from the centre ;
all the tail-feathers of a light buff at their extremities; irides orange ; bill yellow at the tip, horny at the
base; feet pale yellow.

The female is rusty brown, barred on the head, neck, and back with very dark brown, which markings
become much smaller and irregular on the lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts, where the lighter
hue becomes freckled with dark brown; wings dark brown, banded with reddish buff; under surface yel-
lowish buff, banded on the neck with narrow, and on the flanks with broad, bands of blackish brown ; tail
crossed by alternate and irregular diagonal bands of black and greyish buff, which are broad and conspicuous
on the central feathers, but become narrower and more regular on the lateral ones ; irides hazel; feet like
those of the male, but somewhat paler.

The accompanying Plate, in which the figures are about two-thirds of the natural size, will give a good

idea of the great difference in the colouring of the sexes.

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THAUMALEA AMHERSTIA.

Lady Ambherst’s Pheasant.

Phasianus Amherstie, Leadb. in Linn. Trans., vol. xvi. p. 129.

Thaumalea Amherstia, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 497, Thaumalea, sp. 2, pl. cxxv.—Gray, List of
Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part il. p. 24.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta,
p. 246.—Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 117.

 

Tuts very remarkable member of the Phascantde was brought under the notice of the scientific world for
the first time in 1828 by the late Mr. Benjamin Leadbeater, who, in a paper read by him at the meeting of
the Linnean Society of London on the 2nd of December of that year, stated that “the return of His
Excellency the Right Honourable Earl Amherst from India has made us acquainted with one of the most
splendid examples of the genus Phasianus that has been submitted to the notice of ornithologists for many
years past.

«Two males of this new and beautiful species came originally from the mountains at Cochin China, and
were presented by the King of Ava to Sir Archibald Campbell, who gave them to the Countess Amherst.
Her ladyship retained them in her possession about two years, and. ultimately succeeded in bringing them
both to England alive ; but they only survived the voyage a few weeks.

‘I propose the name of Phastanus Amherstie for this valuable addition to our catalogue, as a tribute due
to the distinguished lady to whom ornithologists are indebted for the knowledge of this new species.

‘The general character of this bird and the arrangement of its plumage are very similar to those of the
well-known Golden Pheasant.”

When Lady Amherst brought home the two examples from which Mr. Leadbeater’s characters were
taken, nothing certain was known of their history, of the locality whence they came, or of the country of which
they were natives; and the time which has since elapsed has not enabled us to acquire this very desirable
information. It is now, however, believed that the bird is an inhabitant of the Chinese province of Yunnan
and the adjoining region of Tibet. It was seen by the preceding extract from the sixteenth volume of the
‘ Transactions of the Linnean Society’ how Lady Amherst became possessed of her two specimens: one of
them, I believe, is still in the possession of her family, the other, which was presented to Mr. Leadbeater
by Lady Amherst, passed into the possession of the late Earl of Derby, and now forms part of the fine
collection bequeathed by his lordship to the town of Liverpool; it is from this specimen that my figure was
taken, and I am much indebted to the Trustees of the Derby Museum for their kindness in permitting me
to make a drawing of it. Mr. B. H. Hodgson, formerly the British resident in Nepaul, and so well known for
his devotion to natural history, obtained two specimens which had been brought into the Napaulese territory,
from some distant country to the eastwards ; they are now in the British Museum, and two more have, I
believe, been sent to Paris. The six specimens enumerated, all of which are males, are probably all that
have yet been collected. It would give me great pleasure to see a female of this fine bird, and every ornitho-
logist would be truly gratified by the arrival of any information respecting the part of the celestial empire
in which it dwells, and any details as to its habits. The bird would, doubtless, be as easily kept in our
aviaries as its near ally the Golden Pheasant ; and it is my ardent wish to see it thus located before I leave
this lower world for the higher and brighter one, which is the end of our hopes and desires.

Irides white ; naked skin surrounding the eyes light verditer-blue ; feathers of the crown green ; crest
crimson ; pendent tippet white, each feather tipped with a narrow, crescentic, dark green band, with an interior
edging of a lighter tint and a straight band of the same kind about three-eighths of an inch from the tip ;
neck, back, shoulders, chest, and wing-coverts beautiful metallic green, each feather tipped with a broad
zone of velvety black ; primaries dark brown, with lighter shafts and white edgings ; greater wing-coverts
and secondaries bluish black ; breast and belly white ;. thighs and under tail-coverts mottled dark brown
and white; legs light blue; feathers of the rump brown at the base, green in the middle, and the exposed
portion bright saffron-yellow ; tail-coverts brown at the base, barred with green and white in the middle,
and ending in scarlet ; two broad middle tail-feathers olive-grey, crossed with curved bars of green about
three-quarters of an inch apart, between which a series of oblique wavy limes of a blackish brown ; the
remaining feathers have the inner web narrow and mottled black and white, the outer web with curved
brownish green bars, about three-quarters of an inch apart, on a ground the inner portion of which is
greyish white, the outer light chestnut-brown.

The figure of the bird is about two-thirds of the natural size. ‘The accompanying ferns are the two
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DIARDIGALLUS PRALATUS, Bonap.

Siamese Fire-back.

Phastanus crawfurdu, Gray in Griff. edit. of Cuvier’s Anim. King., vol. viii. p. 27 ?
Diardigallus fasciolatus, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng.,vol. xxvii. p. 115.—Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii.
p. 40.
prelatus, Bonap. Compt. Rend., 1856, p. 415?
crawfurdi, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 353.
Acomus? crawfurdi, Bonap. Compt. Rend., 1856, p. 8792?

 

Ir is through the exertions of Sir Robert Schomburgk, Her Majesty’s Consul-General for Siam, that I am
enabled to give a figure of this fine bird in the ‘ Birds of Asia.’ The facts connected with the case may be
briefly told. On inspecting the large collection of drawings at the East India House, I noticed one of a bird
I had never seen, and which was said to have been made by Finlayson in Siam, forty years ago. I immedi-
ately solicited permission to take a tracing of the drawing, which tracing I forwarded to Sir Robert Schom-
burgk, with a letter directing his attention to the subject, and pointing out the desirability, if possible, of
procuring a specimen. With the usual energy which actuates this gentleman whenever science is to be
benefited, he gave immediate attention to the matter; and by the returning mail informed me that he had
seen a living specimen in a Siamese menagerie, and that it would be forwarded to me by the next mail, The
specimen arrived in due course; and from it the accompanying figure was taken. Almost simultaneously
Mr. Blyth wrote to England, describing the bird from examples which had lately arrived in Calcutta,
and mentioning that he had given it the name of Diardigallus fasciolatus, which specific appellation
must, however, give place to that of prelatus, previously proposed by the late Prince Charles Bonaparte
for specimens contained in the Leyden Museum. In Griffith’s edition of Cuvier’s ‘Animal Kingdom’
there is the description of a bird, taken from a drawing in the possession of Mr. Crawfurd, after whom the
bird was called Phasianus Crawfurdi by Dr. Gray. This drawing I once considered to be a representation
of the female of the bird here figured; and if such should prove to be the case, then the specific names of
prelatus of Bonaparte and fasciolatus of Blyth must both give place to Dr. Gray’s appellation Crawfurdi.
Mr. Sclater, however, thinks it doubtful if the bird described in Griffith’s edition of the ‘Animal Kingdom ’
be the female of this species, as the specimens in the Leyden Collection, said to be females of the bird here
figured, are different from the drawing: time and the acquisition of other specimens can alone determine
the question; and Sir Robert Schomburgk will doubtless set the matter at rest with the same promptitude
that characterized his acquisition and despatch of the male.

With regard to the particular part of Siam inhabited by this bird, Sir Robert has sent me the following
note :—

‘Learning some time since that there were some fine living animals and birds at a Wat, or Siamese tem-
ple, I went to look at them, and was particularly struck with a fine Pheasant, which, on inquiry, I was told
came ‘ from the upper country,-—the usual answer to every question respecting the habitats of living animals
or birds. About aweek later comes your letter enclosing a drawing of the very bird I had seen in the Wat.
Of course I sent forthwith the price demanded, and procured it. The poor thing was so gentle, I felt great
compunction to kill it; for the sake of science, however, it was stifled, but I told my servant to do it in the
most gentle manner. The bird having been kept in a domesticated state, I did not wonder when its owner told
me that, in lieu of cereals, it had been fed upon the fry of fishes, prawns, and shrimps. I am not able to
tell you much about its habits or its habitat. Some say it comes from the upper country, others that it fre-
quents the regions near the coast. There is no doubt that it is a great rarity at Bangkok, which it would
not be did it frequent the coast. Ihave not seen this Pheasant in the King’s Collection, which I certainly
should have done had it been there; for, as he usually receives me in the saloon near the Aviary, I could not
have failed to notice it. With the nice drawing you have sent me in my possession, I think I shall be able
to get some farther information as to the habits of the bird ; meanwhile I forward the specimen without

 
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loss of time.
mese Ministers and officials), has called on me. He tells ‘
» in lat. 13° 33 N.; long., say 100° E.).

(according to Sir Jobn Bowring’s ma} oe,
With regard to the bird’s affinities to the other groups of the Gallinacee, Mt 1S most nearly allied to Euplo-
comus,—indeed, it can scarcely be separated from that form ; bu Mr. Blyth has proposed for it a new
generic title, that of Diardigallus, and Bonaparte has followed in his wake. Mr. Blyth had the living bird
before him, from which to draw his conclusions, and he states that the tail-feathers turn outwards, like those
of the Black Cock. If such be the case, the bird differs from the members of the genus Luplocomus, whose

after the manner of those of the Domestic Cock.

tails are carried vertically,
own the centre of the head, ear-coverts, nape, and

Face and wattles naked, and of a brilliant red; line d
chin dull black ; shafts of the crest-feathers black, their feathered tips steel-blue ; neck, breast, shoulders,

and upper half of the back slate-grey, very minutely
slate-grey, more conspicuously freckled with greyish white, and with a narrow line of white, succeeded by a
broad fascia of black across the tip ; feathers of the centre of the back slate-grey, freckled with white at the
base, and largely tipped with lustrous golden yellow, only the latter colour showing, and forming a conspicuous
patch ; feathers of the lower part of the back, and the upper t
band of shining steel-blue near the tip, succeeded by a broader

red, these bands alone being seen and changing in hue and in 1
dark grey, minutely freckled with light grey ; primaries brown, freckled on their outer margins with light
een; feathers covering the abdomen and flanks black, margined with steel-

freckled with greyish white ; wing-coverts and scapularies

ail-coverts black at the base, with a broad
band at the tip of rich deep fiery crimson
ntensity as the position is varied ; wings

grey; tail-feathers glossy oil-gr
blue; thighs black; bill greenish horn-colour ; legs and feet deep red, the spaces between the scales paler ;

nails horny flesh-colour ; spur dark horn-colour.
The figure is rather less than the natural size. In the distance I have given a reduced copy of Mr. Craw-
PAE 2 Samp ese 0 : * . . . :

furd’s drawing, in case it should prove to be a representation of the female of this bird; of course the

brown-coloured figure is the one referred to.

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CROSSOPTILON AURITUM.

Chinese Crossoptilon.

Phasianus auritus, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat., tom. ii. p. 86.
Crossoptilon mantchuricum, Swin. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1862, p. 287.
auritum, Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 118.—Milne-Edw. Nouv. Arch. du Mus., Bull. i. p. 14.
pl. 1.—Bonap. Tab. par. du Gall., Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. Sci., tom. xlii. p. 879.—Newt. Zool. Rev.,
vol. ill., 1866, p. 107.
Crossoptilum auritum, Newt. Zool. Rev., vol. i., 1865, p. 125.

 

Tue knowledge of the existence of the very fine bird figured on the opposite plate may almost be regarded
as one of the results of our conquests in China; for, beyond the somewhat vague description given
in Pallas’s celebrated ‘ Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica,’ it was previously unknown, whereas we are now aware
that it is to be met with around Pekin, and it is often exposed for sale as an article of food in the markets
of the northern part of the Celestial Empire. Even the Russian naturalists must have been taken by surprise
when this was discovered to be the case; for I believe that so recently as five years prior to that in which
I am now writing (1870) there was not a perfect specimen in the celebrated Museum at St. Petersburg, and
certainly not in those of Berlin, Leyden, or Paris. Now, however, all have been or may be supplied
with skins from Northern China or of specimens from the menageries of Europe, few of which, I presume,
are destitute of living examples.

So tame is the disposition of this bird, and so readily does it breed in captivity, that, in these respects, it
may be fairly compared with the common Fowl. In the gardens of the Zoological Society in the Regent’s
Park, many may be seen, either occupying the aviaries, moving about in a semidomesticated state,
or roosting at night on the large trees of the Gardens apart from the enclosures. In confirmation of these
assertions, I may give the following note, obligingly furnished me by Dr. Sclater, the Society’s excellent
Secretary :—

“The first living Crossoptilons acquired by the Society were two males, brought by Mr. Dudley E. Saurin
from Pekin in 1866, and presented by him to the Society on the 15th of July in that year. On the 10th of
the following November, we purchased, from the Jardin d’Acclimatation of Paris, two females, which had
been bred in that establishment during the previous summer. Our two pairs thus formed bred in
the Society’s Gardens the followmg spring ; and on the 26th of May, 1867, the first hatch, of seven young
ones, was produced. On the 14th of June a second brood, of nine young ones, saw the light. In the
following year (1868) two broods were likewise produced—one, on the 21st of May, of ten, and the other,
on the 13th of June, of eight young ones. Incubation, as in the case of most of our foreign Pheasants, was
effected by hens of the domestic Fowl. We are at present rather short of males of this Pheasant, but are
offering females for sale at the very moderate price of £15 each. Seeing that we purchased our first
two females for £50 each, it will be evident that the stock of this bird in Europe must have considerably
augmented during the last three years.”

Mr. Saurin, to whom we were indebted for the first specimens of this fine bird received alive, kindly
drew up some notes upon this species and other Pheasants occurring in the neighbourhood of Pekin, which
will be found in the Zoological Society’s ‘ Proceedings ’ for 1866, p. 436, in which he says :—

‘ Pallas’s Eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon auritum) is rarely seen in the Pekin market. The bird is found
in the mountains to the north-west of that city, within the Great Wall, and about one hundred miles distant.
The place is well known for its coal-mines, and has frequently been visited by Europeans—amongst others
by the French Minister, M. Berthéney, the French Missionaries, and several of our Student Interpreters.
M. Berthéney, who is a sportsman and fond of natural history, thinks that, taking into consideration the
comparative tameness of the bird, and the fact that, since Europeans have come to Pekin, the peasants have
always found a good market for the nests, this rare bird, which, so far as we know, is only to be found at
this one spot, cannot fail soon to become extinct. Chinese guides, it is true, have assured me that it is to
be found in the Wei-chung or Imperial hunting-grounds ; but no reliance can be placed on their statements,
even if the bird were called by the same name in so very distant a part of the country.

«The Chinese name is Ho-chi, either ‘ River-fowl’ or ‘ Fire-fowl.’ The translation depends on the cha-
racter ; and the peasants, who give it the name, know nothing of characters, while the students, who know
characters, are quite ignorant of natural history.

‘«« Pallas’s Pheasant is never brought by Mongols, or frozen; therefore ‘ mantchuricum ” (the name
applied to it by Mr. Swinhoe) is a misnomer. The hen lays towards the end of May; the eggs are larger

 
 

ollect, rather bluish in tint. The Chinese, who bring

Fowl, and, so far as I rec nese, .
also very fond of barley, which is grown in

than those of a common .
ind of millet-cake 5 they are

these birds in, feed them with a k
abundance in the mountain-valleys.”

We learn from Dr. Lamprey’s notes on th
of the four kinds of Pheasants he has seen in the m
large numbers from remote pl
d of Pheasant,” says the Doctor, “is exceedingly delicate, and the body
(Proc. Zool. Soc., 1862, p. 221.)

I had a female, that had been killed by a male in the
eighed over five pounds. The pectoral muscles were

e gallinaceous birds observed by him in China, that this is one
=) :
arkets of Tien-T'sin, the uninterrupted cold of winter

i ; an ‘ht in aces, and preserving them fit for use until
allowing of their being brought i

the spring. ‘‘ The meat of this kin :
is nearly as bulky as that of a small-sized Turkey.
To test the quality of the flesh of the Crossoptilon,
Zoological Gardens, cooked in the ordinary way. It we | |
white, like those of the Common Pheasant, and equal in flavour ; but the legs and thighs, which were very
large in comparison with the size of the

Mr. Bartlett states that these birds breed when 0
oult, that the sexes are exactly similar, and that they are remarkably hardy and ex-

bird, were coarse, brown, and less palatable.
nly one year old, that the young birds assume the adult

plumage at the first m

tremely tame. (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1868, p. 115.) :
Mons. Armand David, the French Missionary at Pekin, to whom the authorities of the Museum of Natural

History at Paris are indebted for the specimens of Crossoptilon auritum in their collection, ‘‘ met with these
rare birds for the first time in July 1863, in the northern valley of a high mountain, about fifteen leagues to
the west of Pekin. The female only differs from the male in being slightly smaller in size, and in having
the spurs but little developed ; and the nuptial plumage and that of winter are identical. Captured and
placed in an aviary, these birds become gentle and familiar ; their voice is varied, but closely resembles that
of the domestic Fowl. The Chinese know the bird by the name of Ho-ki or Gho-hy. It dwells in small

“numbers in the most wooded places of the mountains. Three specimens killed in July had their crops filled

with the leaves of Cytisus; while those procured in winter contained nuts, various kernels, leaves of
mugwort, ferns, and, above all, roots of orchids and other succulent plants, coleoptera, worms, and cater-
pillars. When I killed the three adults above mentioned, there were four other old ones and fifteen
young, all feeding together in a neighbouring field. Were they two families united ? They perch readily,
and carry their tails elevated, like the common Fowl.” (Nouv. Archiv. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., Bull.,
tom. i. p. 13.)

The male has the short, velvety, and partially curled feathers clothing the head deep glossy black ; sides of
the head devoid of feathers, and of a deep blood-red, below which is a conspicuous lengthened tuft of silvery
white feathers directed backwards and upwards ; chin and throat silvery white, tinged with grey; neck and
the anterior portion of both the upper and under surfaces of the body deep, glossy, purplish black, gradually
becoming paler on the latter, until it fades into leaden grey on the vent and thighs, and into a lighter grey
on the under tail-coverts ; on the former, or upper surface, the purplish black becomes of a hair-brown on
the upper part of the back and wings ; lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts hoary grey ;
all the tail-feathers grey at the base and purplish blue on their apical portion ; irides light orange ; bill
fleshy ; feet sealing-wax red; nails horny.

Total length 33 inches, bill 12, wing 124, (rama e/aeeecentesiel

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CALOPHASIS ELLIOTL

Elliot’s Pheasant.

Phasianus Ellioti, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 550.
Calophasis Ellioti, Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. ii. pl. 13 bis (1873).

 

Ir there has been one bird which has more than any other puzzled ornithologists lately, it is the remarkable
and beautiful species figured in the accompanying Plate; and it must strike every one with surprise that so
showy a bird should have remained so long undiscovered. Still so it is; and it has been left to Mr.
Swinhoe, during his last trip to China, to discover and send to England fine skins of this abnormal Pheasant.
To say that it is a true Pheasant would be wrong; for although it exhibits the general form of a
Phasianus, its plumage partakes of the characters of several other members of the family, as has been
pointed out by Mr. Elliot in the account of the species transcribed below. In fact the bird is (if such a
thing were possible) a medley of two or three forms together, which one could have imagined to have been
produced by their constant interbreeding. We must, however, regard it as a true species, and one of which
both Mr. Swinhoe and Mr. Elliot, who have done so much to increase our knowledge of the Pheasants, may
well be proud—the former as the describer of, and the latter in having his name attached to, so fine a bird.

I cannot do better than reproduce the account which Mr. Elliot has lately published in his Monograph ;
and I do so the more willingly as the rarity of the last-mentioned work renders it probable that many of my
readers have not had the opportunity of perusing the original account.

«This magnificent species, upon which Mr. Swinhoe has done me the honour of bestowing my name, is
one of the most interesting, as it is also one of the most recent, novelties which that zealous and indefatigable
naturalist has made known to science. It is a native of the mountain-range that lies behind Ningpo, in the
Chinese province of Che-Kiang, where it represents, to a certain extent, such Pheasants as Phasianus
torquatus, which inhabit the great tract lying between the hilly regions and the sea. On discovering this
beautiful bird my friend immediately notified me of his good fortune, sending at the same time one of the
feathers from the back, by which I was enabled to perceive that the species was entirely unknown in Europe.”

“Tn his paper read lately before the Zoological Society of London, in which this and some other birds are
described, Mr. Swinhoe writes of this Pheasant as follows :—

«<« From the mountainous region of this province (Che-Kiang) I have procured a truly beauteous Pheasant,
perhaps the loveliest of that lovely group. It is smaller than P. ¢orguatus, and has comparatively shorter
wings and longer tail. The colouring of its head and tail recall P. Reevesi, its coppery back and breast the
P. Semmeringii of Japan, and the glowing maroon on its seapulars the Euplocamus Swinhon of Formosa; but
its curiously marked lower back and its white-barred wing are suggested by no other species of this family
to my knowledge, and its white underparts no other true Pheasant possesses.”

“<¢ Its mate is a smaller bird, and in coloration more of a Grouse than a Pheasant; but in her black under-
neck, and in the marks of her lateral rectrices, she shows her relationship to her lord. Possessed of so
many striking characters, it would be easy to find an appropriate name for so marked a species ; but on
glancing down the list of Pheasants I find that not one bears the name of Elliot; and it strikes me it would
be wrong to allow his magnificent work on the group to close without the figure of a bird dedicated to him-
self: I therefore propose to name this firstfruits of my researches in this province Phasianus Elhoti.’”

‘Desiring, equally with myself, that this new species should be illustrated in this work, Mr. Swinhoe at
once forwarded to his agent in London the male and female, which he had with much difficulty been able to
procure; and soon after their arrival they came into my possession, in perfect condition, making a most
valuable addition to my collection of these beautiful birds.

« Although Mr. Swinhoe has placed this species in the genus Phasianus among the true Pheasants, I am
unable to agree with him (after carefully examining the specimens) in deeming that to be its correct position.
In many points it resembles the true Pheasants ; but in many more this new form differs entirely from them.
The head of the male resembles somewhat those of the true Pheasants, although I doubt if the naked skin
would ever expand into the large conspicuous wattles which form such a striking mode of adornment in the
members of the genus Phasianus ; while the bill is smaller, and the nostrils are only partially covered by a
scale. One of the most remarkable differences perceptible is in the structure and form of the feathers on
the lower part of the rump. In all true Pheasants these are long, loose, split, and of a hairy-like texture,
very dense, and they almost, if not entirely, conceal the upper tail-coverts. Now the present species exhibits

 
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e rounded, and proceed in regular gradation down the back,

none of this; but the feathers of the rump ar ; :
leaving them entirely exposed. Here our

and form an abrupt distinct line just above the upper tail-coverts,
new bird resembles the members of the genus uplocamus, and also, : | |
Graphophasianus, Syrmaticus, and Catreus. of divergence is the colouring of the wing, which
in its white scapulars and distinct bar comes nearer
that of any other kind of Pheasant at present known.

species of the genus just mentioned, and is unlike

to a certain extent, the subgeneric forms

Another point
the style othe members of the genus Euplocamus than

Its lengthened spur, sharp at the point, also brings it

near the any species of Phasianus, all of which have short
blunt spurs, in most instances but little more than knobs. But the female exhibits, even to a greater degree

; ; ; o.
than the male, characters not found in any species ol Phe

in her relationship to him, differs in a more marked manner
One of these characters (and one which would be apt to first attract

asant belonging to existing recognized genera, and

than is to be witnessed among the females of

any species of the genus Phasianus.

the eve of the observer) is a large bare place of scarlet skin u
at which time it is most likely that any bare skin or

pon the face, which ts apparently clearly visible

all the year; for the specimen was shot in December,
wattle would be shrunk to its smallest dimensions. This is not found upon the female of any species of the

venus Phasianus, although the hen of the subgeneric form Cafreus exhibits it.
a Grouse: the tail is shorter than are those in the

In the reneral colour of the

body the female of this new form resembles very much
same sex of other Pheasants; while the under coverts are very like those of a Pucras, and the tarsi have a
well-marked indication of a spur.”

I do not add a detailed description of this Pheasant, as the annexed Plate exhibits its characteristies to the

fullest extent. But I must here thank Mr. Elliot for his liberality in lending me his specimens of this and
other rare Pheasants to figure in the present work.

The birds are drawn in the Plate about four fifths the natural size.

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PUCRASIA XANTHOSPILA, &. R. Gray.

Chinese Pucras Pheasant.

Pucrasia xanthospila, G. R. Gray in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1864, 20 Seay leexexe

 

Tue great range of mountains running eastward from the Caspian Sea through Affghanistan and northern
India to the neighbourhood of Pekin in China is tenanted by four species of Snow-Partridges ( Tetraogalli),
the same number of Horned Pheasants (Ceriornes), and four species of the form represented on the opposite
plate : all these birds, with the Monauls (Lophophor’), the blood-stained Partridge (Ithaginis), the Catreus
Waltichii, and the Euplocami, which, curiously enough, are also four in number, are peculiar to this favoured
region, none of them extending their range either to the plains of India, the Neilgherries, or any of the
out-jutting ranges towards the south. The members of the genus Pucrasia inhabit the higher lands from the
most eastern part of China to the western portion of the Himalayas. The present new species was described
by Mr. G, R. Gray in June 1864, from two specimens, male and female, presented to the British Museum by
the Hon. Sir Frederick W. A. Bruce, K.C.B. Since that date not only have other skins been sent to Kurope,
but living birds have been forwarded from Northern China in considerable numbers, confirming the truth
of the remark I have made in my history of the Phastanus Reevesii, that the opening of China to the scientific
world has materially contributed to our knowledge of the avifauna of the world: that the natural productions
of that great country are by no means exhausted, there can be no doubt; what may next arrive, we of course
know not; but all naturalists are looking forward with great interest to the collections which may be expected
from time to time to be transmitted to this country.

As Mr. Gray’s account of the bird has been so recently published, and his technical description is moreover
very accurate, I take the liberty of transcribing what he bas written.

“This bird,” says Mr. Gray, ‘‘ though noticed by Dr. Lamprey in the Proceedings of the Zoological
Society for 1862, p- 221, as ‘another kind of Pheasant found in the Tien-Tsin market,’ was not inserted by
Mr. Swinhoe in his “ Catalogue of the Birds of China” published in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological
Society for 1863’; it is thought therefore that the description of the present examples may be acceptable
tu the Society as adding an interesting species to the Catalogue of Chinese birds previously printed in their
publications.

‘¢ Forehead, cheeks, throat, and the lower or lengthened part of the crest black, glossed with green ; crown
and upper or shorter part of the crest of an obscure sandy buff, which is brighter on the ends of the longer
feathers; on the side of the neck -a pure-white space surrounded on three of its sides by the glossy green
black colour, behind this a space of pale sandy buff with a line of white down the shaft of each feather ;
some of the feathers have a black line along their margins ; napes, sides of the breast, back, and wings black,
with a grey mark down the centre of each feather, and a very narrow black line down each side of the shaft,
while the outer margin is broadly margined with grey ; feathers of the under surface similarly marked, but
the grey much paler ; the castaneous colour down the middle of the breast and abdomen not so rich as in
the other species ; wings black, with white shafts and brownish-grey edges ; primaries brownish black on
their inner, and buff on their outer webs, and at the tip of both; tertiaries black, with the shafts and outer
margins greyish white, the black in some feathers varied with rufous ; central tail-feathers grey on each side of
the black shafts, then a line of black broadly bordered externally with greyish castaneous, then narrowly with
black and lastly with grey; outer tail-feathers grey, banded obliquely near the middle and tip with black,
the first band sometimes interrupted, the second one entire and broad, and each feather tipped with pure
white ; under tail-coverts black, conspicuously tipped with white; vent-feathers similar, but with a casta-
neous spot on each side.

‘The general tint of the female is pale brown, blotched and freckled with black, the blotches being most
conspicuous on the back of the neck, upper part of the back, and wings; lower part of the back and the
rump pale greyish brown varied with grey, and freckled with black, and with some small blotches of black
on the tail-coverts ; central tail-feathers greyish brown, with interrupted bands of brownish black and white ;
outer tail-feathers grey, banded with black, which is slightly varied with castaneous, and each feather tipped
with pure white; throat white, irregularly spotted beneath the lower mandible with black ; feathers on the
sides of the throat white, margined with black spots; breast pale rufous brown, with the tip of each feather
white, and the base and outer side black ; feathers of the thighs black, with white shafts and tips, some of
them varied with pale rufous ; under tail-coverts black, marked on their sides with castaneous, and conspi-
cuously tipped with pure white.”

Time and fature research must make us acquainted with the habits and economy of this fine species, in
the absence of any knowledge of which I must content myself with giving figures of the two sexes nearly of
the size of life.

 
         
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PUCRASIA DARWIN Ie Swinhoe.
Darwin’s Pucras Pheasant.

Pucrasia Darwini, Swinhoe, P. Z.5., 1872, p. 552.—Elliot, Monogr. Phasianide, i. pl. xxx. (bis).

 

“Tus new species of Pheasant,” says Mr. Elliot, ‘‘ appears to represent, on the eastern Chinese ranges,
the buff-spotted Pucras of the more western portion of that mighty empire: and this is somewhat strange ;
for, being intermediate in plumage between P. vanthospila and P. macrolopha of India, we should naturally
have looked for it in a region lying between those inhabited by the species just mentioned.”

When describing the Calophasis Elhoti from the mountains behind Ningpo, Mr. Swinhoe gives the
following note on the present bird :—“ The same mountains have also yielded a Pucras Pheasant remarkable
for the absence of the golden neck-spot which adorns the Pucrasia xanthospila of Northern and Western
China (Mantchuria to Szechuen). It is of the same model as the other two closely allied species, P.
macrolopha of the Himalayas and the above-mentioned, but differs sufficiently from either to be recognized
as a third race of this curious type.” ;

I give in detail the very careful description which Mr. Swinhoe adds respecting it :—

‘¢ Male.—Head coloured as in the other two, but the bronze encroaching more on the crown; central
occipital crest yellowish brown, with central yellowish streaks; lower eyelid covered with minute pure
white feathers ; white spot on side of nape as usual. Feathers of the hind neck white, delicately shaded
over, and with four black streaks converging to tip; greyer on the back and rump, the lines opening into
mottling; some of those covering the ramp having a V-mark of black with pale yellowish centre and
light chestnut shading. The long uropygials and central tail-feathers greyish white, with a broad margin
of chestnut, flanked inwardly with black and outwardly with narrow white. Rectrices pale French or
Kestrel grey, bordered along the sides with black, edged with grey, and barred at the end with black
conspicuously tipped with white; in the outer feathers the black border is confluent with the bar, in the
more central it is broken by the grey extending across ; all have more or less black about the basal two
thirds of the stem. The two central tail-feathers coloured like the tail-coverts, but clearer and brighter.
Median feathers of the underparts from the neck downwards deep chestnut as usual, lighter and dingier
on the abdomen; lateral feathers reddish buff, with four converging black streaks, the two inner ones
breaking up into mottling; tibial and latero-abdominal with outer streak very broad. Under tail-coverts
black, marked more or less with deep chestnut, and tipped with a conspicuous white spot. Scapulars and
wing-coverts varying in depth of chestnut tint, and in breadth of black limes; many of the former and
secondary coverts black, with yellowish central streak and margined with chestnut. Primary quills brown,
margined with buff ; secondaries more mottled, with the edging more chestnut; tertiaries mottled and
patched with buff, chestnut, and black, with yellowish central streak ; axillaries and under wing-coverts
mottled minutely, and the former streaked with light black.

“¢ Compared with a specimen of P. xanthospila from Pekin, occipital crest much darker, some of the
feathers with a central yellow streak ; cuneate feathers of the neck much shorter, without a tinge of yellow,
those of the back and rump much broader; sides of the body washed with a warm sienna instead of lemon-
white, and more narrowly streaked with black; rump-feathers shorter and broader, mottled instead of
streaked with black ; a single line of black feathers running down the middle of the rump, margined with
grey, and patched in the centre with chestnut with a pale streak running through; of a larger size, with
larger legs and feet ; wings and tail differ in detail of colour and markings.

‘“« Fresh male shot about the middle of December.—Length 24 inches; wing 9°25; tail 9-5, consisting of

fourteen rectrices and two centrals, which in appearance are but a continuation of the tail-coverts advancing
gradatim to cover the tail; tarse 3-4; middle toe and claw 2°9. Bill black ; iris deep brown; legs and
toes deep blackish grey. Crop full of bamboo-leaves, with a leaf or two of other trees and a few berries.
« Fresh female shot in beginning of January 1872.—Entire length 19°25 inches; wing 8; tail6; tarse 2-9,
with a tubercle on the inner side towards its backward edge, 0°6 above hind toe; middle toe and claw 2:5.
Bill blackish brown on whole of upper mandible and tip of lower, bluish grey on rest of latter; inside of
mouth yellowish flesh-colour, yellower on the tongue, which is broadly sagittate ; skin round eye deep
purplish brown ; lower eyelid covered with minute white feathers ; legs and claws light leaden.”

The species is represented in the Plate by a male and female, rather under the natural size.

 

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PUCRASIA MACROLOPHA.

Himalayan Pucras Pheasant.

Satyra macrolopha, Less. Dict. Sci. Nat. tom. lix. p. 196.

Phasianus pucrasia, Gray in Griff. An. Kingd. vol. vii. p. 610.—Ib. Ind. Zool. pl. .—Gould’s Century of Birds,
pls. 69, 70.

Pucrasse, Gray in Griff. An. Kingd. vol. viii. p. 26.

Tragopan Duvaucel, Temm. Pl. Col. 545.

Eulophus macrolophus, Less. Comp. Buff. tom. vill. p. 354.

Pucrasia macrolopha, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 503.—Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.
part iii. p. 31.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 245.

 

Ir will be seen by the above list of synonyms that this well-known and beautiful species has been honoured
with as many names, both generic and specific, as any other of the Phasianide inhabiting India. Its native
habitat is the central portion of the great Himalayan range, to the eastward of which it is represented by
the Pucrasia Nipalensis, and to the westward by the Pucrasza castanea. I learn from the notes of the late
Hon. F. J. Shore that it is found all over Gurhwall, on ridges from 5500 to 8000 feet high, and that its
native name is Koklas or Fuklas. Major-Gen. Hardwicke procured it on the Almorah Hills, and Dr. William
Jameson states that it inhabits the Himalayas at an elevation of from 1800 to 5000 feet. .

As is the case with the other species of Pheasants, the sexes offer very considerable difference in the
colouring of their plumage, and the young probably resemble the female until after the second moult; but
on this, as indeed upon all other points connected with the habits and economy of the species, nothing has
as yet been recorded.

Forehead, cheeks, throat, and the lower or lengthened part of the crest dark shining green; hinder part
of the head and upper or shorter part of the crest dull sandy buff, the two colours mingling on the occiput ;
on each side of the neck within the green a large oval spot of pure white; lanceolate feathers of the back
and sides of the neck ashy grey at the base, passing into purer grey towards the tip, and each with a narrow
streak of black down the centre; the wing-coverts and flank feathers are very similar, but the streak down
the centre is broader at the base, the ashy grey is of redder hue, and the edges fade almost to white; those
on the lower part of the flanks moreover have pale buffy shafts ; the feathers of the centre of the breast and
abdomen are rich deep chestnut, some few on the sides bemg blackish brown edged with whitish, and others
with the inner web chestnut, and the outer one blackish brown edged with whitish ; feathers of the back
and rump pale ashy grey, fading into whitish on the edge, and with a narrow streak of black down the basal
portion of the shaft, exchanged on the rump and upper tail-coverts into a larger mark divided by a light-
coloured shaft; greater coverts and secondaries blackish brown margined with ashy grey, becoming paler
on the edge; primaries brownish black on their inner webs, and buff on their outer ones and at the tip of
both; tertiaries reddish ash at the base, a streak of deep buff down the centre, and a large spade-shaped
mark of black edged with grey at the tip; central tail-feathers dull chestnut-red, stained with black near
the base and on either side of the shaft; lateral feathers brownish black; the basal half of the external
web rufous, and margined with grey stained with rufous at the tip; vent feathers black, edged with
whitish ; under tail-coverts black, with a streak of chestnut-red down the tip, passing into the whitish fringe
of the extremity ; bill black ; feet horny brown.

The general tint of the female is a pale brown, blotched and freckled with black, the blotches being
largest and most conspicuous on the back, scapularies, and outer webs of the secondaries; each feather of
those parts has also a stripe down the centre, which is of a deep tawny buff on the upper part of the back,
becoming on the coverts and scapularies of a pale or whitish buff; ear-coverts mottled buff and black ; over
the eye a streak of buff, and a broader one from the angle of the mouth; throat buff, bounded on each side
by a series of deeper buff feathers tipped with black, which are continued and spread out both backward

. and forward at the base of the neck; breast deep tawny, mottled with black ; flanks and thighs similar,

with a stripe of buff down the centre of each feather ; under tail-coverts chestnut, blotched with black near,
and a large spot of white at, the tip; tail-coverts and central tail-feathers pale brown, crossed with broad
irregular bands of deep or tawny buff; lateral feathers crossed near the tip with a broad band, which as
well as the inner webs is black ; basal portion of the outer webs chestnut; all conspicuously edged with
white at the tip.

Total length, 22+ inches ; wing, 935 tail, 93; tarsi, 23.

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PUCRASIA CASTANEA, Gouda.

Kafiristan Pucras Pheasant.

Pucrasia castanea, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. April 11, 1854.

 

Two adult examples of this Pheasant grace the collection of the Hon. East India Company, and I am
indebted to the Directors and to Dr. Horsfield for permission to figure so fine a bird for the first time in
“The Birds of Asia.” The two specimens referred to were collected by Dr. William Griffith in Kafiristan,
and, so far as I am aware, are all that exist either in the collections of this country or those of the Conti-
nent. The discovery of this fine bird tends to prove that our knowledge of the Phascanide inhabiting the
Asiatic continent is far from complete, and we may fairly infer that if so large a bird has hitherto escaped
the notice of travellers, additional novelties will yet be obtained when the more distant regions are diligently
explored.

The Pucrasia castanea is a larger, longer and more powerful bird than the P. macrolopha ; its rich uniform
chestnut-coloured mantle, breast and flanks at once distinguishing it from the other species of the genus.

I need scarcely add, that any information respecting the localities inhabited by this bird and its near

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allies, their habits, manners and general economy, will be most acceptable, and I would therefore strongly
press the matter upon the notice of residents and travellers in India, in the hope that they may be induced
to give some attention to the subject, and favour us with the result of their observations.

Forehead, cheeks, chin and lengthened portion of the crest dark shining green; hinder part of the head

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and the shorter portion of the crest dull sandy buff, the two colours blending on the occiput; on each side
the neck an oval patch of white ; lanceolate feathers of the neck both above and below the breast and flanks
deep chestnut ; feathers of the upper part of the back black, stained with chestnut on the outer web and
margined with grey; lower part of the back and rump grey, fading into white on the edges and with a
narrow streak of blackish brown down the shaft ; wing-coverts dark brown, largely edged with greyish and
ashy brown; primaries brown on their inner margins, cream-white on the outer ones; feathers of the lower
part of the abdomen brownish black, edged with whitish ; under tail-coverts chestnut, with a black line
fringed with white at the tip; upper tail-coverts ashy grey, with a broad mark of blackish brown down the
centre, but not extending to the tip; tail-feathers black, the centre ones broadly margined with grey
freckled with black, the remainder fringed with whitish at the tip ; bill black; feet horny brown.

Total length, 23 inches ; wing, 94 5 tail, 1025; tarsi, 2.

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PUCRASIA NIPALENSIS, Goud.

Nepaul Pucras Pheasant.

Pucrasia Nipalensis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. April 11, 1854.

 

Or the three species of Pucrasia, the present is by far the most highly coloured and beautifully marked ; the
mantle, the sides of the neck, and the flank feathers being conspicuously striated with black, chestnut and
grey, while the same parts in the others are, as will be seen on reference to the respective plates, very
different and sombre in comparison. In size it is the smallest bird of the three, and as regards rarity it is
second only to the Puerasia castanea ; specimens, however, are contained in the collection at the British
Museum, in that of the East India Company, and, I believe, in that of the Jardin des Plantes at Paris.

The native habitat of this fine Pheasant is Nepaul and Bhotan, whence, I believe, all of the specimens
contained in the collections above mentioned have been sent by Mr. Hodgson.

Forehead, cheeks, chin and lengthened portion of the crest deep shining green; hinder part of the head
and the shorter portion of the crest buff with lighter shafts, the two colours blending on the occiput; on
each side the neck an oval spot of white ; feathers of the sides and back of the neck and upper part of the
back brownish black, with a narrow mark of rich chestnut down the centre, and edged with rufous or
whitish ; feathers of the lower part of the back brownish black, with white shafts and edges ; wing-coverts
blackish brown, with white shafts and margins ; scapularies broadly margined with deep reddish buff;
primaries brown on the internal web, deep buff on the outer; tertiaries pale chestnut, mottled with black
along the shaft and towards the edge, which is sandy buff; throat, centre of the breast and abdomen rich
chestnut ; flank feathers brownish black with white shafts, bordered on each side by a very fine line of
chestnut and narrowly edged with grey, the markings becoming larger and paler behind the thigh ; under
tail-coverts lively chestnut, with an oval spot of white at the tip of each ; centre tail-feathers rufous, stained
with black near the shaft, the remainder black on the inner web and at the tip; the outer webs chestnut,
which colour curves round into and occupies a portion of the internal web near the tip, all fringed with
white at the tip; bill black ; feet horny brown.

Total length, 202 inches ; wing, 8: ; tail, 9; tarsi, 23.

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TETRAOGALLUS CASPIUS.
Caspian Snow Partridge.

Tetrao Caspius, Gmel. Edit. of Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 762.—S. G. Gmel. It., tom. iv. p. 67. tab. 10.
Perdia Caspia, Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. ii. p. 655.

Tetrao Caucasica, Pall. Zoog. Ross. Asiat., tom. i. p. 76. pl.

Perdiv (Megaloperdix) Caucasica, Brandt, Bull. Sci. de l’Acad. Imp. de St. Pétersb., vol. viii. p. 190.
Lophophorus Nigel, Jard. and Selb. Hl. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 76.

Caspian Partridge, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 283.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 290.

Keph-e-derra, or Royal Partridge of Persia.

 

VaLUABLE and interesting as are the Gallinaceous birds of India, both as objects of beauty and as supplying
the human race with a great store of nutritious food, there is a group, the Zetraogalli or Snow Partridges,
which, if I mistake not, is destined to play as important a part in the latter respect as any of the Gallinacez
previously known. ‘The great plateau of Asia, particularly the country of Tibet, is yearly becoming more
and more accessible, and surely the time is not far distant when the introduction of some of the species
into the British Islands will be attended with success. I cannot conceive localities better adapted to the
habits of any one of them than the Highlands of Scotland and the hilly districts of Northumberland,
and other northern counties of England ; as an evidence that they will exist in far more unfavourable situa-
tions, | may mention that two individuals lived for several years in the Menagerie of the Zoological Society
of London in the Regent’s Park. Those who visited these Gardens during the years 1852 and 1853 cannot
have failed to notice the fine bird from which the figure in the accompanying Plate was drawn. This noble
specimen, the Aeph-e-derra, or Royal Partridge of Persia, was presented to the Society by R. Stevens, Ksq.,
H.B.M. Consul at Tabreez: on its arrival at the Gardens it was in a bad state, both of health and plumage,
but it speedily recovered, and after the succeeding moult we had an opportunity of seeing the bird in as fine
a state of plumage as if we were viewing it in its native wilds. A female had been previously presented
to the Society (in 1842) by E. W. Bonham, Esq.; this also was from Persia. I regret to say both these
interesting birds are dead ; and I need scarcely add how highly a further donation of living examples from
any one favourably situated for procuring them would be esteemed by the Society, or how important in an
economic point of view would be the introduction of a sufficient number to ensure their naturalization.

There is but little doubt that the present bird is the oldest known species of the genus, for although
Linnzus appears to have been unacquainted with it, it was described as long back as 1788-93 by Gmelin in
the 13th edition of the ‘Systema Nature,” under the name of Zetrao Caspius. By Latham, who states it
inhabits Astrabad, Ghilan and other parts of Persia, it was placed among the true Partridges, genus Perdiz ;
by Pallas it was associated with the Grouse under the name of Tetrao Caucasicus; Messrs. Jardine and
Selby placed it in the genus Lophophorus, and lastly Mr. J. E. Gray instituted for it the separate generic
title of Tetraogallus. Messrs. Jardine and Selby state, that for their knowledge of the species they were
indebted to James Wilson, Esq., so well known for his ‘Illustrations of Zoology,” to whom it had been
transmitted from Persia by Dr. Macneil, the enlightened physician to the English Embassy at that Court,
after whom it was named Mgel/i, and who informed Mr. Wilson that ‘it inbabits the more secluded and
mountainous parts of Persia, where it is esteemed rare even by experienced sportsmen, and is known by the
name of Keph-i-derree, or Mountain Partridge.”

I am indebted to J. H. Gurney, Esq. for having called my attention to the following passage in
Mr. Layard’s “ Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon,”
«A covey of large birds sailed with a rapid swoop, and with the whistling sound peculiar to the Partridge
kind, from an opposite height, and alighted within a few yards of me. They were the Aadk-i-dered, or the
Our-kak-lik, as they are called by the Turks; a gigantic Partridge, almost the size of a small Turkey, only
found in the highest regions of Armenia and Kurdistan.”

The following note has been forwarded to me by Mr. G. R. Gray, which he states is an extract from one

which doubtless refers to this species :—

of the St. Petersburg Transactions :—

“This species builds on the highest summits of the rocky mountains of the Caucasus ; it prefers altoge-
ther the regions of snow, which it never quits; thus, when we desire to acclimatize the young chickens of
this partridge in the plains of Kahetia, they have not survived the spring. It runs on the rocks and the
ledges of precipices with great agility, and rises with a great cry at the least danger, so that the most

 
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In autumn it grows very fat, and its flesh resembles that of the common

during the winter months.
Partridge. In the crop of this gallinaceous
mixed with all kinds of seeds of alpine plants.”

Prince Charles Bonaparte informed me, that there is some ily ievin
within the confines of Europe; he did not, however, mention the locality in which it wes been observed. I
had also been told some years ago by an officer of one of Her Majesty’s surveying ships employed in the
Mediterranean, whose name I cannot recollect, that he had himself observed a bird of this form among
the mountains in the island of Candia, where it was excessively rare, and only to be seen on the very peaks
some interest in the history of the birds of this genus, I would bee to

bird I have found a great quantity of sand and of small stones,

reason for believing that this bird occurs

of the hills: as this is a point of
direct the attention of travellers to the subject.

M. Brandt considers the Chourtka alpina of Motchoulski to be synonymous with this species ; but as I
have seen in the Museum of the Jardin des Plants at Paris a bird which I believe to be distinct, not only
from the present species, but also from T. Himalayensis, T. Altaicus and T. Tibetanus, and which nearly
accords with M. Motchoulski’s description, I have omitted it from the list of synonyms until I have had
further opportunities of investigating the subject.

Crown of the head, neck and the upper surface generally slaty brown, minutely freckled with dark
brown; chest nearly uniform blue-grey in the male, variegated with zigzag markings of buff and brown in the
female; wing-coverts and scapularies slaty brown freckled with black, margined narrowly on the inner side
and broadly on the outer with buff, along, which latter mark, on the greater feathers, is a streak of chest-
nut; primaries and secondaries white, largely tipped with blackish brown; tail dark brown freckled with
black, stained in the centre and tipped with brownish red; feathers of the under surface greyish buff, with
a double streak of buff and reddish brown along each margin, forming a series of stripes along the body;
under tail-coverts white; cheeks and sides of the neck white, separated from the buff-coloured throat by a
broad stripe of brown freckled with black; streak over the eye brownish buff; irides hazel; bill horn-
colour; legs and feet orange-yellow.

The figures in the accompanying Plate, taken from life by Mr. Wolf, represent an adult male and a female

about three-fourths of the natural size.

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TETRAOGALLUS HIMALAYENSIS, G. R. Gray.

Himalayan Snow Partridge.

Tetraogallus Himalayensis, G. R. Gray in Proce. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 105.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat.
Soc. Calcutta, p. 248.—Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part III. p. 30.

Tetraogallus Nigelli, J. E. Gray in Hardw. Ill. Ind. Zool., vol. ii. pl. 46.—Vigne in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IX.

[6

Lophophorus Nigel, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 141.

Kubuk Deri, Vigne, Travels in Kashmir, vol. ii. p. 18.

Tetraogallus caucasicus, G. R. Gray, List of Sp. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by
B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 126.—Hutton, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 782.

 

As its name implies, this species is a native of the Himalayas, where it is spread over a vast extent of
country, but appears to be most abundant along the southern dip of the mountains generally, as well as in
the greater part of Tibet. In the Museum of the East India Company there is a specimen sent from Ladahk
by Captain Strachey ; and in the British Museum another obtained from St. Petersburg, which is believed
to be from Siberia; the great water-shed of Asia must therefore be considered the native head quarters
of the species. Mr. Vigne observed it in Cashmere, and states that ‘‘ in the Himalayas behind Simla it
inhabits the snowy panjabs on both sides of the valley, but is more common in the Tibets. This mag-
nificent Partridge is about five times the size of the common English bird, and is generally of a grey colour,
the feathers being edged with light reddish brown. I had several of them alive, and am confident that they
might be brought down the Indus to England, as they thrived well so long as I looked after them myself.”

The Himalayan Snow Partridge, which may be considered the most noble species of the genus, both as
regards size and the variety of its markings, may be readily distinguished from its congeners by the conspicuous
chestnut streaks on the sides of the neck, by the black and white scale-like feathers of the chest, and by
the dark slate-colour of its under surface. It is this fine species especially that I should wish to see natu-
ralized in Europe; and as it is the one most easily obtainable, surely it might be sent by way of Egypt
without much trouble or expense either to the transmitter or to the receiver.

‘«« These fine birds,” says Capt. Hutton, ‘‘ are common in the Huzzarah Mountains and other high ranges ;
they are called Kowk-durra, or Partridge of the ghats or passes. Sometimes they are sold in the markets of
Cabool. I possessed four living birds at Candahar, which were kept with wings cut in a large court-yard
and lived well for many months. I gave them to a friend, Captain M°Lean, of the 67th Reg. N.I., who
wished to take them home to the highlands of Scotland, but he unfortunately died on his way back to India,
and I know not what became of the birds. They are common on the snowy passes of the Himalaya and in
Tartary; rise in coveys of from ten to twenty, and usually have a sentry perched high on some neighbour-
ing rock, to give warning of danger by his loud and musical whistle. They are difficult birds to shoot.
I usually found them in patches of the so-called Tartaric furze.”

Captain Boys, who procured examples on the 16th of May, 1842, immediately below the snow on Choping
Peak above Mullarin, states that it is very strong on the wing, and that its flights are very protracted ; its
note he says resembles that of a Dipper (Cinclus), finishing with the cluck of a Chuckar (Perdia Chukar) ;
during flight it emits a shrill whistle, somewhat similar to that of the Monaul (Lophophorus Impeyanus).
Its weight is nearly six pounds.

The eggs, of which examples are contained in the British Museum and in the Collection of H. F. Wal-
ter, Esq., are about the size of those of a Turkey, but, like those of the Grouse, are of a more lengthened
form; their ground colour is clear light olive, sparingly dotted over with small light chestnut spots: the
length of the British Museum specimen is two and three quarters of an inch long by one inch and three
quarters broad.

The sexes are alike in colouring, and may be thus described :—

Crown of the head and cheeks grey; over the eye a line of buffy white ; round the throat a collar of red-

 
 

dish brown, broad behind and narrow in front, into which pass two streaks of the same hue, one from below
the angle of the mouth, the other from above and behind the eye; throat and space between these streaks
dull white; across the breast a broad gorget of scale-like greyish feathers, each crossed by a broad band of
black ; below this gorget a series of whitish feathers without bands ; at the back of the neck a broad crescent
of grey, below which is a series of slaty feathers minutely freckled with buff; shoulders grey, minutely
freckled with black; upper surface brownish grey, minutely freckled with black and with a broad stripe of
dull buf down the margin of each feather; greater wing-coverts, tertiaries and scapularies brownish grey,
minutely freckled with black and with a broad mark of chestnut-brown on the outer and a smaller mark of
the same hue on the inner web, each fading into buff near the tip; primaries white, largely tipped with
at the extremity, and minutely freckled with black ; tail grey on the inte-
eckled with black and merging into a broad patch of the same
minutely freckled with buffy brown, the feathers

brownish grey, passing into buff
rior, webs reddish, on the outer ones fr
hue, the tip being reddish; under surface slate-grey,
of the sides of the breast and flanks of a paler hue than on the centre and abdomen, and on each a double

stripe of chestnut and black along their margins, forming a series of stripes on those parts of the body;

vent and under tail-coverts white; thighs dark grey ; bill dark horn-colour; irides dark brown; legs and

feet red.
The figure, taken from a drawing by Mr. Wolf, is about three-fourths of the natural size.

 

 
 

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TETRAOGALLUS ALTAICUS.

Altaic Snow Partridge.

Perdix Altaica, Gebler, Bull. de Acad. Imp. de St. Pétersb., tom. i. p. 81; and tom. vi. p. 30.

Perdix (Megaloperdix) Altaica, Brandt, Bull. de l’Acad. Imp. de St. Pétersb., 1840, tom. vill. p. 190.

Tetraogallus Altaicus, G. R. Gray, Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 103.—Ib. List of Spec. of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,
part i. p. 30.

Tetraogallus caucasica, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 503. pl. exxix.

Perdix caucasica, Eversm. Addenda ad Pall. Zoogr., ii. p. 13.

 

Aut the examples of this species which grace the collections of central Europe have I believe been obtained
by way of St. Petersburg, from the Russian possessions in the Altai Mountains. M. Brandt states in the
Bulletin de VAcadémie des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, that he had seen ten specimens so much alike in
colouring that they presented no important differences ; and the three examples which have come under
my own notice, one in the collection of H. E. Strickland, Esq., another in the British Museum, and a third
‘1 the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, are all so nearly alike as to confirm M. Brandt’s obser-
vation. The more decided grey colouring of the upper surface, the white flanks and the black hue of the
lower part of the abdomen are the characters which at once distinguish this species from its congeners,
and establish its specific value.

M. Gebler states that the Altaic Field Hen inhabits the mountains generally, but especially near the
sources of the river Argut; that the length of the entire bird when fresh killed is twenty-six English
inches; of the bill one inch and one line; of the head two inches and two lines; of the wings thirteen
inches; of the middle toe and nail two inches and ten lines; and that the weight of a well-fed bird is six
Russian pounds. From the assurances of the hunters there is but little difference in the colouring of the
sexes. A strong dark grey, conical-pomted spur is found on the tarsi of the old male. Its food consists
of the young shoots of alpine plants, seeds and insects. The stomachs of the specimens shot in winter, and
examined by M. Gebler, contained small stones, roots, leaves, bits of sticks and buds of plants, besides
which, in one instance, he found the remains of a cricket, proving that insects form part of their food.

Crown of the head dusky ash-grey; over the eye a stripe of white; sides of the head lighter ash-grey ;
throat white; neck ash-grey, pale in front, becoming gradually darker behind ; upper surface, wing and
tail-coverts dark brown, minutely freckled with pale buff; the feathers of the back, and especially of the
wing-coverts, with a broad mark on the margin of the outer web and a smaller one near the tip of the inner
web of buffy white ; under wing-coverts very dark ash-grey ; primaries white at the base, brownish grey for
the remainder of their length; tail-feathers ereyish, deepening into black towards the extremity, and
slightly tipped with deep buff; feathers of the breast ash-grey, crossed near the tip by an irregular band of
black, which extends down in a point to the end of the shaft, on each side of which is a large spot of
white; these markings become larger, paler and less defined on the lower part of the breast; flanks and
under tail-coverts white; centre of the abdomen mingled black and white, the black hue predominating on
the lower part; thighs brownish black; bill blackish horn-colour ; nostrils and eyelids pale flesh-colour ;
‘rides dark brown; tarsi and toes dusky orange ; nails black.

The figure is about three-fourths of the natural size.

 
 

 

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TETRAOGALLUS TIBETANUS, Gowda.

Tibetan Snow Partridge.

Tetraogallus Tibetanus, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1853.

 

Havine in my account of the Zetraogallus Caspius dwelt at some length upon the great value of this group
of birds to man, it is with no small degree of pleasure that I now introduce to my readers a figure and a
description of an entirely new species, of which two examples have lately been transmitted to the Honour-
able East India Company, one by Captain Strachey from Ladakh, the other by Mr. Hodgson by way of Nepaul.
This new species, to which I have given the distinctive appellation of Tibetanus, is the smallest member of the
genus yet discovered, besides which its specific differences are both clear and distinct ; of these the principal
are, the uniform colouring of the primaries ; the whiteness of the throat and front of the neck; the jet
black striee bordering the flank-feathers and under tail-coverts, and the bright orange bill and red feet.

At present we know nothing of its habits or the extent of its range over the elevated regions of which it is
a native ; in all probability it will prove to be an eastern representative of the Altaic and Caspian species,
and the elevated ranges on the borders of China be found to be the head-quarters of this species.

For permission to name and figure this interesting addition to the Tetraogalh, 1 am indebted to the
Directors of the Honourable East India Company.

Crown of the head, cheeks, back and sides of the neck dark slate-grey, washed with buffy on the orbits ;
ear-coverts buffy white; chin, all the front of the throat and the chest white; all the upper surface, wings
and tail-coverts freckled buff, grey and black, the feathers of the middle of the back and the wing-coverts,
especially the latter, broadly edged with pale buff; rump and upper tail-coverts washed with rufous ; primaries
greyish brown ; secondaries tipped and broadly edged externally with white ; breast crossed by a narrow
band of grey, freckled with buff, and blotched with black ; under surface white, the feathers of the flanks
and lower part of the abdomen narrowly but conspicuously margined with jet-black, forming stripes along
those parts of the body ; thighs buffy grey, with a streak of brown down the centre of the feathers nearest
the body ; under tail-coverts black, with a broad stripe of white down the centre ; tail very dark brown in-
clining to rufous at the tip; bill and feet orange-red.

The total length of the bird is twenty-two inches ; of the bill one inch and a quarter ; of the wing ten
inches and a quarter; of the tail seven inches ; of the tarsi two inches and a half.

The figure is rather less than the natural size.

 
 

 

 

 
 

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PHASIANUS REEVESIL v. E. Gray.

Reeves’s Pheasant.

Phasianus Reevesii, J. E. Gray in Griff. Anim. Kingd., vol. iii. p. 25.—Id. Hardw. Ind. Zool., vol. i. pl. 39.—G. R.
Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 497, Phasianus, sp. 6.—Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 117.—J. E.
Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part v. Galline, p. 28.

Barred-tailed Pheasant, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. pl. exxiv*.

Phasianus veneratus, Temm. Pl. Col. 485.—Jard. Nat. Lib., vol. xiv. pl. xvi. _
superbus, Jard. Nat. Lib., vol. xiv. p. 202.

Syrmaticus Reevesti, Wagl. in Isis, 1832, p. 1229.—G. R. Gray, Cat. of Gen. and Subgen. of Birds in Brit. Mus.,
p. 104.—Bonap. Compt. Rend. de 1’Acad. Sci., tom. xlii. séance du 12 mai 1856.

————— superbus, Strick]. in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 1841, vol. vii. p. 36.

 

ConsIDERABLE confusion respecting the nomenclature of this remarkable species has been occasioned by the
late M. Temminck having in his ‘ Histoire Naturelle Générale des Pigeons et des Gallinacés’ assigned its
two lengthened tail-feathers to the old Phasianus superbus of Linneus, an error which he subsequently
corrected when describing and figuring the bird in his ‘ Planches Coloriées’ as P. veneratus. In the interval
between the publication of the two works above mentioned, Dr. J. E. Gray named it Phasianus Reevesii, in
honour of the late Mr. John Reeves, a gentleman ardently attached to natural science, who, during his
many years’ residence in China, contributed so largely to our knowledge of the productions of that
highly interesting country; and this name it is now by common consent allowed to retain, on the score of
priority to that of veneratus.

The error of M. Temminck was adopted by Dr. Latham ; and hence, while the description of the Barred-
tailed Pheasant in his ‘General History of Birds,’ vol. vii. p. 196, has reference to the old P. superdus,
some of his remarks apply to the present species. It is probable that the bird did not escape the notice of
the celebrated traveller Marco Polo, since he states ‘“‘There be plenty of Feysants and very great
for 1 of them is as big as 2 of ours with Tayles of eygth, 9 and ten spannes long from the Kingdom
of Erguyl or Arguill, the W. side of Tartary”; but I question if he ever saw more than the central tail-
feathers, which, being held in high estimation by the Chinese, were deemed suitable presents to foreigners,
and hence these feathers found their way to Europe many years before the entire bird; the time however
arrived when, through the instrumentality of Mr. Reeves, we were favoured with the sight of the skin of a
perfect male (which, as above mentioned, Dr. Gray dedicated to him), and some years later of a female.

To him we are also indebted for the introduction of the first living bird into Europe, a fine male
specimen having been imported by him about the year 1831. The son of this gentleman, Mr. John R.
Reeves, brought over a female in 1838 ; ‘and the pair,” says Mr. Tegetmeier, in the ‘ Field’ for June 7, 1867,
«were living in the Gardens of the Zoological Society at the same time; but the male being unfortunately
an aged bird, they did not breed.” The next living example that reached this country was a fine male,
received direct from China by John Kelk, Esq., in 1862, and which roamed in perfect liberty and in excellent
health for two successive years among other pheasants at his seat, Stanmore Priory, near Edgware.

Out of evil comes good; and thus war, with all its horrors, is the precursor of extended knowledge.
The productions of the vast empire of China were but the other day so little known to the man of science
that it was only by surmise, by grotesque drawings, and the receipt of remarkable feathers of birds that he
formed any idea of its ornithology; the late war, however, has placed Europeans and the inhabitants of the
“celestial empire” upon a different footing ; and we now not only get skins of this fine Poe reant but living
examples in considerable numbers—so abundantly, in fact, that at this moment ee 1868) the bird is being
successfully bred in more than one menagerie both in England and on the continent.

“ The successful introduction of the living birds now in this country,” says Mr. Tegetmeier, in the No. of
the ‘Field’ above referred to, ‘is owing to the combined efforts of Mr. John J. Stone and Mr. Walter H.
Medhurst, H. M. Consul at Hankow. For several years past Mr. Stone had made continuous efforts to obtain
this and other new pheasants from Northern China, with no satisfactory result, until the valuable aid of Mr.
Medhurst was obtained ; and it is mainly due to that gentleman’s thorough ee of eg natives of China
and of their language that the true habitat of this bird was ascertaimed a its introduction accomplished.
Mr. Medhurst employed an experienced Chinaman to proceed into the interior for the express purpose of

collecting this and other rare pheasants, of which coloured drawings had been supplied for his guidance.

The first three lots obtained, with a single exception, all died before they reached England. The fourth

° pene 5 ‘ pe .
was obtained in the direction of Syechney, about thirty days’ journey from Hankow ; and of these, seven

 
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anded here alive and deposited in
In sending home these birds Mr. Medhurst

are located in his pheasantries.
ossession of specimens ; and in compliance with this wish
epted by Her Majesty, and they are now in the

Reeves’s Pheasants were |
received several others, which
t the Queen should have early p

was anxious tha
and graciously acc

one male and two females were offered to
aviaries at Windsor Castle.”

~ That the Phasianus Reevesii is likely to breed in and or
for its native country, the neighbourh
our climate cannot be an uncongenial one. Besides the locality above
d in the Taihoo district of Central China, on the north side of

nament our aviaries for many years to come, there

can be little doubt ; ood of Pekin, and the British Islands being nearly

in the same parallel of latitude,
mentioned, the bird is also said to be foun
the Yang-tsze-Kiang. |

Latham mentions that he saw at Sir Joseph
collection of ancient porcelain, wherein is repre
ment, supposed to be between his Tartarian aud Chine
the chieftains of the former having one of the barred fe
(perhaps as an insigne of one order), the opponents or
smaller kind, probably of the Golden one; and hence he concludes that the present bird is a native of

Banks’s some fine drawings taken from Lady Banks’s curious
sented a mock fight on the water for the Emperor’s amuse-
se subjects, personated by the females in his seraglio,—
athers of this species on each side of the bonnet

Chinese having two feathers of a Pheasant of a

Tartary, and not unlikely to be as common there as the other is in China.

As every scrap of information respecting a bird of which so little is known is of interest, I copy the
following extract from the ‘ Wanderings in New South Wales, &c.,’ of Dr. George Bennett :-—

“Tn Mr. Beale’s splendid aviary and garden at Macao the beautiful Phasianus veneratus of Temminck, the
P. Reevesii of Gray, now commonly known by the name of Reeves’s Pheasant, was seen. It is the Chee Kat
of the Chinese. The longest tail-feathers of this bird are six feet in length, and are placed in the caps of
the players when acting military characters. This I observed in Canton, where some of the beautiful tail-
feathers (rather in a dirty condition, like the actors themselves, who in their tawdry dresses reminded me
of the chimney-sweeps in London on a May-day) were placed erect on each side their caps as a decoration.
The Chinese do not venerate this bird, as was first supposed, and which may have caused Temminck to
bestow upon it the name of veneratus ; but it is superstitiously believed that the blood of the bird is possessed
of poisonous properties, and that the Mandarins, when in expectation of losing their rank and being suddenly
put to death by order of the Emperor, preserve some of it upon a handkerchief in a dried state, on sucking
which they fall down and instantly expire.

«Mr. Beale’s first male specimen, obtained in 1808, was kept in a healthy state for thirteen years ; after
its death he endeavoured to procure others, but did not succeed until 1831, when four specimens were
brought from the interior of China, and purchased by him for 130 dollars ; these were, I believe, subse-
quently taken to England by Mr. Reeves.”

I om pneatly indebted to James J. Stone, Esq., of Scyborwen, Llantrissent, for his kindness in submitting
to my inspection examples of this and many other fine Pheasants when they unfortunately die in his aviary.

The male has the crown of the head, a spot under the eye, chin, and a broad collar round the neck whites
forehead, face, a et mark on the throat, a broad collar round the base of the neck, centre of the
a: i under tail-coverts jet-black; feathers of the upper surface and breast buffy yellow, each
—.. aa ee a the tip; centre of the wing black, with a mark of snow-white in the
— ere ee ae meee with white and Blas primaries blackish brown,
sae | y grey, armed with tawny buff, and crossed with numerous bands of black
Pe em ilccicd. our; spurs nearly black at tips; naked skin before,

ae ale has the parts of the head and neck, with the exception of the crown, yellowish buff, in lieu of
es ‘on of the neck beantifully marked with black, chestnut, a white, the tae of a
ee oe ree ee ee ee light chestnut-brown, with pale grey
and black, each feather with a oe . - ae ue under tail-coverts light buff; wings mottled brown
dark streak down the centre: five or : “ : as dou the centre; rump dark, freckled brown, with a
irregular bands of black aval see ae : - a eos on each side rich chestnut, crossed by
acle meu argely tipped with white; central tail-feathers freckled brown and

The annexed Plate repr
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, ae ; S \ 1e size of life, with the ex 1 e splendi
feathers of their tails, which are of necessity omitted: but their 1 a ae vs
e 5 U a fe

reduced figures in the distance. elative proportions are well shown in the

The lensth i
gece diadunie cone po ncially es : ae i central feathers of the male varies considerably in
arly six feet long, while others a
. ? 5S? ot ers are r : ;
the case with the females of other Pheasants. is ¢ only four or five: het
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PHASIANUS COLCHICUS, Linn.

Common Pheasant.

Phasianus Colchicus, Linneeus et Auctorum.

 

Tuer generic term Phasianus has been applied to so many different forms of the Gallinacee that it will be
desirable to indicate the species to which scientific ornithologists now restrict it. By Linneus, the
Domestic Fowl, the Golden and Silver Pheasants, and many other allied forms were characterized under
this appellation ; in the present work I have applied it to seven species ; but other ornithologists limit it to
four, namely P. Colchicus of Asia Minor, P. torquatus of China, P. Mongolicus of Tartary, and P. versicolor
of Japan,—the other three species being P. Semmeringii and P. scintillans (for which the generic name of
Graphephasianus has been proposed by Dr. Reichenbach) and P. Reevesi (the only known species of Wagler’s
genus Syrmaticus). ‘That both the Asiatic and European shores of the Black Sea are the true home of the
Common Pheasant, there can be, I believe, but little doubt: the ancient Colchis, from which the specific
name is derived, is the Mingrelia of the present day; and there it is said to be still found wild and in
unequalled beauty; neither is it improbable that it is found in equal numbers around the Caspian, and even
further to the eastward. The Rev. T. Milner, in his ‘ Ancient and Modern History of the Crimea,’ remarks,
“Tt is singular that the Pheasant does not occur in the Peninsula, although found on the opposite side of the
narrow strait of Kertch, and all over the Caucasus.” The late Mr. G. T. Vigne informed me that he shot
it in a wild state at the Lake of Apollonia, about thirty five miles from Broussa, to the south of the Sea of
Marmora.

In a letter received from the late Mr. T. W. Atkinson, that gentlemen says :—‘ In answer to your
inquiries about the Pheasants seen by me in Asia, I beg to inform you that I found the common species on
the Kezzil-a-Gatch in considerable numbers ; I have also seen several that were brought from the country
to the west of the river Ilia. In all my wanderings in the Altai I did not find a single Pheasant, or any bird
resembling it.”

The food of the Pheasant in a wild state consists of grain, seeds, green leaves, insects, and the roots of
bulbous plants.

The Pheasant makes a slight nest on the ground, in which it deposits from ten to fourteen eggs of a
uniform olive-brown colour, one inch and ten lines long, by one inch and five lines in breadth.

The male has the head and nape bronzy green ; neck and throat steel blue, with reflexions of brown,
green, and purple, according to the incidence of the light ; ear-coverts dark brown; feathers of the upper
part of the back rich brownish red, with black centres, light shafts narrowly edged with a velvety black,
and an oblong spot of the same on the centre of the tip; those of the back and scapularies purplish red, with
black centres, within which is a pointed horseshoe-shaped mark of pale buff, and a narrow line of the
same colour down the shaft; lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts deep chestnut-red, with purple
reflexions ; wing-coverts light greyish brown, with paler shafts ; primaries dull greyish brown, crossed by
interrupted bars of cream-colour ; tail-feathers yellowish brown, crossed by numerous narrow transverse
imperfect bars of black, and washed with chestnut and purple on their outer margins; breast and abdomen
golden red, each feather margined with velvety black and reflecting tints of golden and blue ; lower part of
the abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts brownish black; bill dull pea-green ; legs and toes horn-colour.

The upper surface of the female is blackish brown, with each feather conspicuously margined with creamy
white, a few of the feathers at the base of the neck with chestnut centres; chin brownish white ; under
surface brownish buff, the flank-feathers variegated with dark brown and reddish buff.

The figures, which represent the two sexes considerably less than the natural size, were taken from

specimens killed in Asia Minor.

 
 

 

 
    
  
 

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PHASIANUS sy A WI, Eviot.
Shaw’s Pheasant.

Phasianus shawi, Elliot, P. 7. S. 1870, p. 403.—Id. Monogr. Phasian. ii, pl. 1 (1872).—Scully, Str. F. 1875,
p. 433.

Phasianus insignis, Elliot, P. 7. S. 1870, p. 404.—Id. Monogr. Phasian. ii, pl. 3 (1872).

 

Mr. R. B. Suaw, whose interesting work on High Tartary, Yarkand, &c. is doubtless known to my readers,
brought back from his expedition to the latter country three imperfect skins of Pheasants, which, having
been submitted to Mr. Elliot, were pronounced by that gentleman to belong to two undescribed species ;
and these were accordingly named by him P. shawi and P. msignis respectively. For a highly instructive
dissertation on the origin of the different kinds of true Pheasant I must refer my readers to Mr. Elliot’s
‘Monograph,’ and must confine myself here to reproducing a very important article which has just appeared
in ‘Stray Feathers’ from the pen of Mr. J. Scully, who, I think, succeeds in showing that P. shawi and
P. insignis are referable to one and the same species :-—

‘During my residence in Eastern Turkestan I had abundant opportunities of observing the Yarkand
Pheasant; I saw at least from thirty to forty of these birds alive, kept some in confinement for months, and
have lately been looking over a series of twenty-four skins—nine in my own collection, and fifteen belonging
to Mr. R. B. Shaw. While in Kashgharia I often tried to make out whether there were two species of
Pheasants there ; but, as I was not aware of the precise grounds on which Mr. Elliot had separated the birds,
I could not very well decide ; my impression, however, was certainly in favour of one species only. I heard
that the distinction was supposed to be the extent to which the breast-feathers were edged with green; but
as hardly two birds could be found exactly alike in the matter of this edging, I felt satisfied that the species
must have been founded on something much more definite and constant than that character.

“On going over my specimens a few days ago with Mr. Hume, that gentleman expressed his opinion that
all my skins belonged to one species, although he pointed out that one of the birds had less green on the
chest than the others. I then examined Mr. Shaw’s collection, and found that three of his birds
corresponded with the one noted by Mr. Hume; and this determined me to look at Mr. Elliot’s work to see
what he had said about the matter.

“The first point that struck me in regard to the plates of Phasianus insignis and P. shawi in Mr. Elliot's
magnificent work was, that both the birds were erroneously represented as having conspicuous red lappets,
or wattles, which the Yarkand Pheasant certainly never has at any season; the head should have been
represented like that of P. colchicus, with a bare crimson orbital skin always at a lower level than the
feathers of the cheek. The second piece of information I derived from the plate was that the bird having
the green of the neck sharply terminated at the upper breast was the one called P. shawi, while the one
having the green reflections extending all down the chest was P. msigms. I tried to find out from the
text whether Mr. Elliot pointed out any distinction between his two species; but as this was not obvious
on a first reading, I copied down his descriptions of the corresponding parts of P. USEES and P. sha in
opposite columns, underlined the discrepancies, and sat down to study the subject with my specimens
before me. So far, then, I had ascertained what form was called P. msigms and what P. shawi; and with
the two collections of twenty male Pheasants I could roughly set aside sixteen which would be called by
Mr. Elliot Phastanus insignis, and four which I presume he would have accepted as P. shawi. The next
point was to put down in words what the distinctions between the two Boe neal were. To take
Mr. Elliot’s descriptions first, I found that what he said would apply generally to birds in both series; and,
indeed, I could only fix on six salient points :—

“a. P. insignis more brilliant than P. shawi. Nothing could be made out of this ; for in the twenty birds
not even three could be found exactly alike in this respect: some of the specimens were most gorgeous ;
and the worst were never dull. ain

“6, The tippings of the feathers of the back, scapulars, breast, and flanks green in P. insignis, blue in
P.shawi. A careful comparison of the birds showed that ‘is would not hold at all, some of the latter series
having the tippings quite green, and many of the former series very ee

‘ec, Centre of abdomen and thighs in P. énsignis black, in P. shawi brownish Wes: Wars also would not
hold; some P. shawi had the abdomen black or greenish black, and one or two P. insignis brownish.

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certainly devoid of this character; but, on the other hand, 1
of it was present.

«oe, In P. shawi the rump has greenish reflections. But so had the majority of my specimens of

P. insignis. es
; onis blackish brown, of P. shaw greyish. This does not hold good :

“f Lastly, feet and tarsi of P. msg
i ” han P. insignis; and many of the latter had the legs

some of my P. shaw? series had darker feet and tarsi t

and feet lightish grey.

«Having failed to discover that Mr.
ventured to try if I could not find somethi
the edgings of the feathers of the lower
answer; the series were alike in these respects.

Elliot’s description would help us to uphold two species, I next
10° distinctive myself. I started several points, the wing-coverts
5

back, the colours of the thighs, &c. 5 but they really would not
The following three points were the last and most

promising :—

“1, Three specimens of P. isig
the neck. This was interesting as bearing on
P. mongolicus, bat was of no value as a distinctive character, a
the P. shawi series showed the beginning of this white streak also.

«9. The shaft of the tail-feathers in one P. shawi was alternately dusky and yellowish white; in
P. insignis it was dusky throughout. Now, I thought, if this be only constant throughout the two series,

“nis had a narrow half-collar of white almost continuous at the back of
Mr. Elliot’s statement that the bird was allied to
s it was not constant, and, besides, one of

it will, taken with
3. The one marked point—the abrupt termination of the green of the neck, so well shown in Elliot's

figure of P. shawi, though not exactly mentioned by him in words—satisfy one that there are two species
of Pheasants in Yarkand.

“To test this, I began to draw the birds out of the covers. The first had the shaft variegated ; and on
turning it round to look at the breast it proved to be P. shawi. The second gave a like result. The third
showed the shaft of the tail-feathers dusky throughout, and the characters of P. insignis as to breast: this
became exciting. The fourth had the shaft dusky and yellowish, and the breast—Eh! what? P. ensrgnis
or P. shawi? T rushed to the window to get a good light on the subject. Mortifying result! It was
impossible to tell by its breast whether it were P. shawi ov P. insignis; it was intermediate. Another
specimen was tried; it had the tail-shaft dusky throughout, and it was also intermediate as to the breast.
It must be given up! I have only one species represented by my entire series of specimens.

‘Tt seems scarcely possible that there should be really two species of Pheasants in Yarkand, and that
during a residence of ten months there I should only have come across one of them; besides, as I have
explained above, I really think that I fave some of the birds in the slightly different states of plumage which
are shown in Mr. Elliot’s two plates. Now I know by the dates on the tickets of my specimens that this
slight variation is not due to season; and I can therefore only suggest that it may be a question of age—
a view which the length of the spurs seems to confirm. The heads of the birds are alike; so are the
measurements; and intermediate forms occur; but as I feel sure Mr. Elliot must have had some weighty
reason for making two species out of the skins he received, I should be glad to know what the distinctions
on which he relies really are. If there really are two species, I can only say that they so closely resemble
each other as to make it impossible to discriminate them without being told in what points they differ, that
they are both found in the same localities in a small tract of country, and that the natives (who are
exceedingly good at discriminating species, as I know from my personal experience) have only one name
- ae Whe miajeniey of the specimens I have seen approximate most to the plate of

. INSiLNIS 3 but ie as I believe is the case, there be only one species of Pheasant of Yarkand, I feel sure
ey Mr. Elliot will bs the first to agree that it should stand as Phasianus shawi in honour of Mr. R.
B. Shaw, who ms the first to introduce this beautiful Pheasant to the notice of Europeans.”

lam indebted for the loan of the fine pair figured in the Plate to the kindness of Captain Biddulph, who
shot them himself during the Mission to Yarkand under Sir D. Forsyth.

The figures are somewhat less than the size of life.

 

 
 

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PHASIANUS CHRYSOMELAS, Severts.

Oxus Pheasant.

Phasianus chrysomelas, Severtz., Ibis, 1875, p. 493; Elliot, Ibis, 1876, p. 131.

 

Dr. Severrzorr, the celebrated Russian traveller, discovered this fine species of true Pheasant during his
travels in Central Asia, under the circumstances narrated by him in detail below. Mr. Elliot, who has
made a special study of the Pheasants, states in a letter to ‘The Ibis’ (4. c.) that the title of P. chrysomelas
must sink into a synonym of his P. cnsignis, founded on an imperfect specimen from Yarkand. Whether,
if this eventually turned out to be the case, Mr. Elliot’s name, founded on an admittedly mutilated skin and
incorrectly figured in his ‘ Monograph,’ would be allowed to take precedence over the more exact description
of Dr. Severtzoff’s, I leave to other ornithologists to determine; but if the conclusions of Mr. Scully,
published in ‘Stray Feathers,’ are correct, then P. insignis 1s not distinct from P. Shawi, which is said to
be the only Pheasant in Yarkand. I cannot bring myself to believe that P. chrysomelas, at any rate, can be
a stage of P. Shawe; but perhaps the careful figures now published will enable Mr. Hume and other Indian
naturalists to make further comparisons and determine this interesting point.

The following very full account of the species I owe to the kindness of Dr. Severtzoff:—“I found
P. chrysomelas on the river Amoo (Oxus), and on the lower parts of the same river, from the end of the
Karakol, its most eastern arm, along the sandy country up to our new fort Petroalexandrowsk, on the right
bank of the stream opposite Khiva,

 

also on the branches of the delta, as for instance Keghili, Koowansh-
djerma, Lake Sarg-kul, &c. I possess also information that it is common upon all the branches of the
Oxus delta without exception, including the most western, Taldyk: here it is very abundant near Kungrad,
and is precisely similar to those found near Petroalexandrowsk. It also occurs on the left bank of the
Oxus, and the great channels of Khiva, in fact everywhere where it finds sufficiently large jungles unde-
stroyed by cultivation ; these, however, are rare to the south-west of the Oxus delta. I do not know its
limit above that river; but I think it not improbable that this beautiful bird will still be found in the jungles
of Balsk and Kundooz.

“It lives only in dense thorny jungle near the water, and is therefore confined to the valley and delta of
the Oxus. Its range is bounded on the north-east by the sand-waste of Kysilkoom, which separates its
habitat from that of P. mongolicus, and to the south-west by the Turcoman desert, which separates it from
P. persicus.

‘« My observations on the habits of this Pheasant extend from the month of July to the middle of October.
In July they come out from the jungle every morning and evening for the purpose of feeding, and both at
sunrise and after sunset their screams may be heard in the bushes; but day by day towards the end of that
month they are seen less and less, and remain more concealed in the thickets. The males are now fast
moulting, and the females also, but ina less degree, the latter bemg then occupied with their chickens.
At this time neither males nor females sit on the trees as they do later on, but remain always on the ground ;
and, from the foot-prints in the mud, I opine that at this season of the year the moulting Pheasants are
actively pursued by the marsh-cat (els chaus). During the night, however, the birds retreat to such
thickets as render the noiseless approach of their enemy impossible.

“The chicks of this Pheasant, like those of other Gallinaceous birds, are continually moulting until they
are fully grown. I have no specimens newly hatched; but from analogy with P. mongolicus, I think that
they must have quills when still in down. When they have attained the size of a Quail, their first feathers
are already nearly full-grown, though some have still blooded roots ; such specimens I have obtained at the end
of July and in August, whence I opine that the female still has eggs in May and the early part of June.
If so, she is a late breeder, like P. mongolhcus.

«‘The birds, as soon as the moult is ended, gather in small flocks, consisting of males, females, and young ;
some old males, however, remain single. This association begins with the first days of October, but is not
very strictly kept up. During the day, numbers of them often disperse amongst the bushes, a flock of Ore
ten to fifteen specimens occupying a space of as many acres ; and on being disturbed they fly up one at a time.
They keep more together when feeding in open places, as, for instance, on the stubble-land. They eat the
seeds of Eleagnus, Halimodendron, and Alhagi. Near the open sipnees covered with the last-named thorny
grass they conceal themselves amongst the Tamarisk bushes, in which icy ene Hea but te food.
Besides these wild seeds, they eat in autumn every kind of cultivated corn, particularly Panicum miliaceum,

 
 

agi seeds, I have seen this Pheasant frequenting the

‘der to obtain Ah
eee On the Syr (Jaxartes) all these haunts

near the river Karakol.
but this bird is also very commonly found in the dense reeds of
h [never met with an Oxus Pheasant. The flocks of this

as well as peas and lupins.
Saxaul woods (Holoxylon ammodendron)
are frequented by Phasianus mong olicus

ing sw maka ality in whic
summer-drying swamps, a kind of locality wy
es a eather themselves together more closely at night, which

on disperse ‘ing the day
last species, though often dispersed during eo i rt
,as in summer. I have also found them assembling for the night

they generally pass in the densest bushes a |
i 6 wm-yards, which on the Oxus, as well as in Turkestan, are built

on the walls of abandoned and deserted fe

of clay, in the form of small fortresses, ;
ll probability in the winter too, this Pheasant feeds the whole day long, and grows

‘Tn the autumn, and in a |
whereas in summer, as we have seen, it feeds only in the

very fat, even before the moult is finished ; a
morning and evening, resting during the heat of the day in the shade of the jungle. Its flesh is white and

tender, rendering it a first-rate bird for the table. When flushed, it flies at first perpendicularly with a
great noise about ten or twelve yards high in the air, then horizontally at the same height for about a
hundred yards, and at last sinks obliquely into the jungle, where it 1s not ayy to find again, even though
the spot be correctly marked ; its flight is very short and heavy, though rapid. In dense bushes it will
run in front of the sportsman, until it decides on flight ; in open spaces ae . runs out of reach of shot;
and winged birds can go at a great rate of speed. In some places, such for instance as the Karakol and
near the Dankara Lake, they are plentiful enough to be hunted profitably without a dog; but this is not
the case where they are scarcer, as near Petroalexandrowsk. A dog, however, is more useful to scent out
where a Pheasant is hidden in the bush, as it is not much use trying to follow a dog in the jungle, especially
as a Pheasant never makes a stand, but keeps on running continually before the dog, just as a Landrail
does. I have never seen a dog bring one of these Pheasants to perch, as is related of P. colchicus in the
Caucasus; and indeed P. chrysomelas is eminently a ground-bird, perching only exceptionally, although
commencing to do so at an earlier season than P. mongolicus. ‘This latter species I have only seen perch in
the depth of winter, viz. on two occasions in January 1875, and never before, during many years of
observation. Both the species mentioned were seen to perch only in L/eagnus trees.

“The female of P. chrysomelas is, both in proportions and general colouring, exceedingly like the female
of P. mongolicus ; on an average, however, the head is smaller, the bill and the feet more slender, and the
toes somewhat shorter; but these characters vary with individuals of both species, as also do the details of
coloration. The only difference that I found to be more constant is to be noticed in the black markings
of the hind neck (cervix); the female of P. chrysomedas has each feather on this part marked with a single
black horse-shoe of variable shape, while the female of P. mongolicus has two large transverse oval spots :
but the three females of P. chrysomelas which I possess can scarcely be considered sufficient to fix these
characters as constant.”

In conclusion I may state that the figure in the plate is taken from one of Dr.’ Severtzoff’s typical
specimens, given by him to Mr. Osbert Salvin. From Mr. Salvin this fine bird passed to my own
collection, which contains a complete series of this group of birds.

My readers will have no difficulty in perceiving the masterly hand of Mr. Wolf in the outline of both the
drawings of Pheasants in the present part.

Lhe principal figure on the accompanying Plate is about one tenth less than the natural size.

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PHASIANUS SCEMMERRINGIL, tTemm.

Scmmerring’s Pheasant.

Phasianus Semmerringii, Temm. Pl. Col. 487, 488.—Sieb. Temm. et Schleg. Fauna J aponica, p. 104—Sclat. Proc.
Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 117.—Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part iii. p. 24.—Id. Gen.
of Birds, vol. iii. p. 497, Phasianus, sp. 6.

Graphephasianus Seemmerringii, Reichenb.—Gray, Cat. of Gen. and Subgen. of Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 104.

Graphophasianus Sceemmerringii, Bonap. Compt. Rend. de l'Acad. des. Sci., tom. xlii. séance du 12 Mai 1856.

 

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Our first knowledge of the existence of this fine Pheasant is due to Dr. von Siebold, who was so long a
resident at the Dutch factory at Decima, in Japan. The venerable Temminck took advantage of the Doctor’s
mission, and obtained, through his instrumentality, numerous specimens of this and many other rare birds.
The collection thus obtained formed the nucleus, if not the entirety, of the celebrated ‘Fauna Japonica,’
in the production of which, Von Siebold, Temminck, Schlegel, and De Haan united their labours from
1833 to 1846. From 1830, when Siebold left Japan, until that island was thrown open to the world at
large, few, if any, additional specimens of this bird were transmitted to Europe, until about 1860 ; since
that date, however, not only have numerous skins been brought thence, but several attempts have been
made to introduce the living bird, some of which resulted in failure, while others were attended with
success; and the bird now adorns our aviaries and has even bred in the Gardens of the Zoological
Society of London and in those at Antwerp. In a note received from Mr. Bartlett, the Society’s
Superintendent, dated from their Gardens in the Regent’s Park, April 11, 1867, he says ‘‘ Soemmerring’s
Pheasant bred here in June 1865. The female laid about ten eggs; but only three or four birds were
hatched, and these died in a few days. The bird also bred in the Gardens at Antwerp, under the care
of M. Vekemauns; but I am unable to say if the young arrived at maturity. In both places the males
exhibited a strong inclination to destroy the females ; and we came to the conclusion that this species is ill-
adapted to breed in captivity.” The extreme pugnacity of the male has also reached me from another
source, whence I learn that not only do they fight with each other, but destroy their own females. We
have yet to ascertain if this disposition would continue to be exhibited were the bird allowed to roam at
large: the experiment ought to be made; and this is a subject which should receive attention from the
Acclimatization Society. That the bird is very numerous in Japan is certain; for Mr. Whitely had no
difficulty in obtaming as many examples as he required in the markets of Nagasaki.

The sexes differ even more considerably from each other in outward appearance than do those of
Phasianus Colchicus and its near allies.

It will be seen that I have not adopted Dr. Reichenbach’s generic name of Graphephasianus for this bird,
though I might have done so with propriety, since these Copper Pheasants, as they are called, differ in many
respects from the more typical members of the genus Phastanus.

The reasons given by Temminck for naming this bird Semmerringii are embodied in the following passage
from the ‘ Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées des Oiseaux’ of that celebrated ornithologist.

‘Cette espece remarquable et nouvelle, de l’ordre des Gallinacés, nous fournit une occasion favorable
de présenter l’expression de notre hommage empressé a un homme célebre, a un vieillard respectable, 4 un
anatomiste distingué, qui, par ses travaux scientifiques et par l’amenité de sa vie privée, répandit le goiit de
Petude, et fait chérir son commerce agréable. Puisse la dédicace de cette espéce offerte a M. le professeur de
Scemmerring, étre accueillie par ce doyen des naturalistes, comme [expression de la haute estime qu'il
inspire aux amis des sciences, qui s’empresscrent de féter a Francfort, le 7 Avril 1828, le jubile donne en
son honneur, a l’occasion du cinquantiéme anniversaire de sa carriére doctorale !”’

The male has the whole of the upper surface and throat of a fine coppery brown, with a lighter border to
each feather, which in some lights appear of a purple hue, in others rich coppery red, and in others, again,
bright but deep flame-colour, this latter tint being especially conspicuous on oy aha of the back and
upper tail-coverts: this is the general appearance. On examining each feather singly, it is ae to be grey
at the base, dark rich brown in the middle, with a broad stripe down the centre and on each sie of dark
coppery brown, with a lustrous stripe on each side of the tip; wing-coverts the same, po oa of the
lustre at the tips; a few of the greater coverts with a narrow bar of creamy white at the tip, within which
is a still narrower one of black; primaries dark brown, crossed by irregular broken bands of a tawny hue ;
secondaries dark brown, freckled near the tip with tawny, and with a large patch of deep rufous near the
end of the outer web, becoming much paler at the extremity, on the tips at the inner Meus of several of them
the double mark of white and black as on the greater coverts ; tail rich chestnut red, with black shafts, and

 
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of about two inches with a narrow irregular band of black and a second broader and
space between the bands being of a similar but paler tint than
moreover, becomes broader, and gradually blends with
on some the intermediate pale band is

crossed at intervals
more decided band of the same colour, the
of the feather; the second band of black,
as they approach the extremity ;
ked like the upper, but the bordering is not luminous, and terminates
he sides of the abdomen, is a narrow line of white; eye-

the body
the general colour of the feathers
white; feathers of the under surface mar
in dull grey, within which, on the lower part of t

orbits red; bill horn-colour ; feet bluish horn-colour.
The female has a patch of dark brown at the back of the head, with a narrow bordering of rufous at the

end of each feather ; feathers of the head and upper surface generally mottled with rufous, with a narrow
ng of black at the tip, and with a stripe down the centre, which on the sides of the neck and shoulders is
d upper tail-coverts deep rust-red, each feather faintly
marked at the tip with black and white, as in the male,
ff; feathers of the under surface brown, largely

edgir
white, and on the other parts deep buff; rump an
barred with dark brown ; some of the wing-coverts

but the marks are broader and not so pure; throat deep bu
striped down the centre, and tipped, with pale or creamy buff, and bordered on each side with tawny; tail

short, central feathers greyish brown, freckled with dark brown; lateral feathers rufous, crossed obliquely
near the tip with dark brown, beyond which the end is white.
The Plate represents the two sexes, about two-thirds of the natural size.

 

 
 

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PHASIANUS SCINTILLANS, Gow.

Sparkling Pheasant.

Phasianus (Graphophasianus) scintillans, Gould in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hlist., vol. xvii. 3rd ser. p. 150.

 

WueEn writing on the Humming-birds, I frequently had occasion to remark that ornamental display formed
a very important feature among those ornithological gems, that it had little or no influence on their habits
and economy, that it was almost universally accorded to the male sex, and that it was assigned to some
particular part in all the members of a genus, that part being thus rendered more highly ornamental than
the rest: thus the fine colouring is conferred upon the crown in some species, forms a rich gorget on the
throat of others, is displayed in lengthened plumes on the sides of the neck, or shines conspicuously on the
lower part of the back; in others, again, the tarsi and even the under tail-coverts are adorned with plumes
the structure and appearance of which are totally different from those of the other parts of the body.
To these remarks I may add that this law of ornamentation appears to prevail in a greater or less degree
in all great families of birds, no matter whether it be the Penguins which sport on the salt seas, or the
Pheasants of the flower-spangled woods. There is no one, I should suppose, who has not witnessed the
display made by the gorgeous Peacock when he quivers his train before the female, and but few who have
not seen the wonderfully expanded frill of the Golden Pheasant during the love-season of that bird.

Among Pheasants, the common species, Phasianus colchicus, the Ring-necked, P. torquatus, and the Green,
P. versicolor, are adorned with highly coloured fleshy eye-orbits, and during the spring time, at least, with
very prominent egrets; these they have the power to, and do display in a most remarkable manner. On
the other hand, the bird here represented, and its near ally, the P. Semmerringit, have neither their egrets
nor such extensive and highly coloured orbits; but these deficiencies are amply compensated by the feathers
of the lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts (which are seldom covered with the wings) being
perfect in their structure and most richly coloured; here, in fact, and in their singularly marked tails lies
the principal beauty and attractiveness of these two remarkable birds. I have said that each of the little
groups of birds which systematists designate ‘genera’ is marked by some special peculiarity ; I may add that
observation informs me that usually these genera are composed of more than one species. In Pavo
(Peacocks) there are two or three; in Zhaumalea (Golden Pheasant &c.) also two or three; in Genneus
(Silver Pheasant) two; in the common type of Pheasants (Phasianus) four—P. mongolicus, P. colchicus,
P. torquatus and P. versicolor. Hundreds of similar instances might be quoted. Having received
so fine a bird as the P. Semmerringz, why should we be surprised at the discovery of a second species
of the same form, a form which has been separated from the true Pheasants by Dr. Reichenbach, under the
name of Graphephasianus? So far from it, when we consider how limited is our knowledge of the natural
productions of that comparatively sealed country Japan, we ought rather to feel surprise if this had not
been the case.

Nothing, I regret to say, is known of its habits or of the locality frequented by the P. sezntillans, further
than that all the specimens which have been sent to this country are from Yokohama, while those of
P. Semmerringii are from Nagasaki, parts of the country 800 miles distant from each other.

The male has the head and neck coppery brown, with a lighter border to each feather, which in some
lights appear of a purple hue, and in others rich coppery red; feathers of the lower part of the neck behind
and all the upper surface of the body dark brown, with a stripe of coppery red down the Conte: and on
each side two oblique lines, the inner one of coppery red, the outer glossy orange, between which at the tip
is a spot of fiery red; on the sides of the back and upper tail-coverts the glossy orange marks are exchanged
for white, and the fiery red spots more lustrous, rendering those parts most conspicuous ; on the
scapularies the coppery red is very apparent, and those feathers, ee are edged vad white on each
side of the tip; the greater wing-coverts are similar in their colouring, but ee is duller and less
decided ; primaries brown, crossed by irregular narrow bands of buff; Se dark pe freckled
with buff, and with a large patch of rufous near the end of the outer web, fading into greyish white at the
tip, those nearest the body with an irregular band of black within the white along the interior oe and at
the tip; tail crossed at intervals of about two inches by, first, a band of brown speckles a buffy white ground,
which, coalescing on the posterior side, form a narrow irregular line of brown; to this Smee a narrow
band of buffy white, then a band of black, and lastly a broad one of deep chestnut-red ; in the interspaces
between these bands the tail is pale cinnamon-brown ; it is to be remarked, oe that alone! the bands
are alike on each web, they are not quite in a line, the one on the outer vane being a little ea the
other; feathers of the under surface dark brown, with a line down the centre and the end cinnamon,

bordered at the tip with creamy white, within which is a narrow line of black; under tail-coverts black,

with a mark of deep chestnut-red at the tip.
The figures are about two-thirds of the size of life.

 
 

 

 
 

 
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PHASIANUS TORQUATUS, Temm.

Chinese Ring-necked Pheasant.

Phastanus torquatus, Temm. Pig. et Gall. tom. ii. p. 326 et tom. iii. p. 670.—Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit.
Mus. part iil. p. 23.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 497, Phasianus, sp. 2.—Blyth, Cat. of
Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 245.—Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. pl.

i Albo-torquatus, Bonnat. Ency. Méth. Orn. part i. p. 184.

 

Cuina is the true and probably the restricted habitat of this beautiful species of Pheasant; for although
various writers have stated that it is a native of India, we have no reliable evidence of its existing in a state

of nature in any part of that great country.

Of the mtroduction of living examples into England, numerous instances are on record. Latham, in his
‘General History of Birds,” states that it is said to have been “ first introduced by the late Duke of
Northumberland, and many were bred and turned out at his Grace’s seat at Alnwick. Lord Carnarvon did
the same at Highclere, in Berkshire, and the late Duchess Dowager of Portland at Bulstrode, Bucks.” More
recently it has been introduced upon the estates of other noblemen and gentlemen, and I am told is now very

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numerous on that of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington. The consequence of this introduction has been
a cross between the Chinese bird and its near ally the Common Pheasant (Phastanus Colchicus), producing
the variety or varieties known by the name of Ringnecks, and now so commonly killed in our woods. Asa
matter of course, these hybrid birds do not closely accord in their markings with either of the true breeds ;
nor do they form a permanent variety ; no two, in fact, even from the same district, exhibiting precisely the
same character; some specimens having their necks adorned with a well-defined ring, while in others it is
narrow and imperfect; the flank-feathers too assume an intermediate tint, and never present the pure
pale buff colouring of those feathers in the P. torguatus, or the dark colouring of P. Colchicus. These
details, though apparently trivial, may not be regarded as unimportant when we take into consideration the
interest so generally evinced with respect to these varieties of the Pheasant; and the fact, that by the
mingling of the two species a prolific offspring has been produced ;—a circumstance, however, which must be
regarded as an exception to the general rule, for I believe that in few instances and with few forms would
such a result occur.

Some six or seven years ago, living examples of this species direct from China were added to the
menagerie of the Zoological Society of London, where they bred in such abundance as to admit of a distri-
bution of eggs and individuals to the owners of estates in various parts of England. In some situations they
readily crossed with the ordinary Pheasant, the produce being birds similar to the Ringnecks of the English
preserves.

Long prior to any recorded instance of the introduction of the P. ¢orguatus into England, a few pairs were
landed at St. Helena, where, the vegetation being congenial to the habits and economy of the bird, they throve
amazingly, and in certain parts of the island they soon became and are even now very numerous. From an
examination of the skins kindly forwarded to me by Lady Ross, the drawings of Major Stack, and a fine
living male sent direct from the island, and now living in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, I find that
these birds do not differ from Chinese examples, except in being rather larger in size and in having a more
lengthened tail, which may probably be due to the abundance of berries they obtain from a kind of bramble
common on the island: no trace or taint of the P. Colchicus being observable, it would seem that China
alone has furnished the pheasants now so numerous at St. Helena. I am also ed to the kindness of
Lady Ross for the following extracts from “ Brooks's History of St. Helena,” respecting the introduction
of the Pheasant into the island :—

“Tn 1513, Fernandez Lopez was left in exile with a few negroes at St. Helena, as a punishment (after
being maimed) for deserting from the army of Alphonso Albuquerque at Goa, in India. These miei the
first inhabitants of theisland. Roots and vegetables of various kinds, fruit-trees and poultry were accordingly
landed for them, and partridges, pheasants, guinea-fowl, Pemeoeks and other birds let loose. Under he
fostering care of Lopez they increased abundantly, and in a few years overspread the face of the country.
Captain Cavendish, who visited the island on the Sth of June 1588, found “no less plenty of pheasants,

 

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which are also very big and fat, surpassing those which are in our country in bigness and numbers in a
company.”

Several fine skins of both sexes were sent to th
have been transmitted to J. R. Reeves,
of Shanghai, where the species appears to be very common.

specific term for this bird, it was M. Temminck who pointed

is country by the late Captain Ince, R.N., of H.M.S.

Pilot”; and others Esq., of Clapham; all these specimens were

procured in the neighbourhood
Although Gmelin probably first proposed the
out the differences which occur between it and the

Chinese bird is the one to which the term ¢orquatus should be a
uite distinct from the P. Colchicus. He remarks, that ‘‘it is of much smaller size
EK)

of the tail never exceeding two feet five inches, which is

Common Pheasant, and stated that, in his opinion, the
pplied, his observations having satisfactorily

proved to him that it is q
its length from the tip of the beak to the extremity
al length of the Common Pheasant; the expanse of the wings is also less, and

six inches less than the tot
He further states, that the circumstance

nuch shorter in proportion to the size of the body.”
ation with the common species and producing fertile offspring

In this opinion I entirely concur, and, like

the tail is 1
of its breeding m a state of semi-domestic
oof of the two birds not being specifically distinct.
state of nature such a union would never take place.

part among the game-birds of the British Islands,

If it could be kept quite pure, it would doubtless

is no pr
M. Temminck, also believe that in a
As this bird is likely hereafter to play no inconspicuous
a word or two on this point may not be out of place here.
prove a most interesting addition to our woods, since its plumage 1s variegated and beautiful, and its flesh
very delicate and high-flavoured ; the aptitude, however, of the males to wander in search of fresh scenes
and other females renders this a matter of great difficulty. It is somewhat delicate in its constitution
,
and consequently not so well adapted for our variable climate. When raised in cover, its flight is bold
° e ° e e E
straight and arrow-like, mounting through the branches with great celerity, and often flying to a con-
siderable distance before it again enters the cover.
The eggs are of a pale olivaceous stone-colour, and considerably smaller than those of the Common
Pheasant, being one inch and eleven-sixteenths long by one inch and three-sixteenths broad.
I cannot conclude without recording my obligations to the Earl of Craven for a very fine series of Pheasants
Pr Fi * ~ = ? uy Q © 2
from his Lordship’s preserves at Coombe Abbey, near Coventry, an examination and comparison of which
with the true P. Colchicus and P. torquatus have greatly assisted in the elucidation of the subject
The male has the forehead deep green ; crow i .
: | green ; crown of the head fawn-colour, glossed with green; over each
Mye ¢ » r . Q Peak i 1 1
eye a conspicuous streak of buffy white ; the naked papillated skin of the orbits and sides of the face deep
scarlet or blood-red, interspersed beneath the eye with a series of very minute black feathers ; horn like tufts
. , :
on each side of the head, throat and neck rich d ining 1 j i
ad, t eep shining green with violet reflex ; P
the neck a conspicuous collar of shining white feathers ee befor d behind ca ee = a
WE cn ra g ees e and behind, and broadly dilated on
he sides; the feathers of the back of the neck black, with a narrow mark of white down the centre of
the basal portion, and a large lengthened mar ithi |
! ‘ 1ed mark of ochr i
a. ; a g g i ae f ochreous yellow within the edge of each web near the tip;
he feathers of the back and scapularies black at the base, with a streak of white in th iddle, th
surrounded with a distinct narrow band of black, to whicl te ee
. d with a dis arrow band of black, to which succeeds ‘ing
Bee ia mreciraes ack, to which succeeds an outer fringe of chestnut; feathers ot
ac , wit rous zigzag and crescenti rk ite: :
ae nee g B ie ce marks of buffy white; lower part of the back, rump
é ail-coverts light green of various shac assing 1 is :

5 c ae s S ] ]
ee eae g ades, passing into bluish grey on the sides, below which 1s
é k of rufous; breast-feathers indented at the tip, of a rich reddish cl i i
er a toate s , ‘ddish chestnut with purple reflexions,
and each bordered with black ; flanks fine buff, with a large angular spot of beautiful violet at the t1

g gule autitul violet at the tip; centre
of the abdomen black, with violet reflexions ; under tail-coverts reddish cl i i .

Elsah ; : ‘ : s reddish chestnut ; wing-coverts silvery grey ;
wines brown; the primaries h light s i ; Gene
@ . primaries with light shafts, and crossed with narrow bars of light buff; tl lari
pee v bar ight buff; the secondaries
similar, but the markines not so regular as 1 i i 5 ; : be

8} ular as in the primaries ; ti “s oliv : : :
et eh Bue nexcack = ee primaries ; tail-feathers olive, fringed with different shades

s 1 a S ¢ gular intervals Vv road conspi 5 = ; i
ee iSieeciss tect - ee i broad conspicuous black bands, passing into reddish

side asa 1e six central feathers ; bill 1 iri
: yellowis -c rides Ne
ee 5 ) vish horn-colour ; irides yellow ; feet
The female has the whole of the upper surface brownish black, with a marein of /

throat whitish, and the central portion of the under surface f; | eee moe
; t Surlace fawn- rs i i :
barred with dark brown, between which are other i awn-colour ; flanks mottled with brown ; tail buff,

’ vhich are other mterrupt P
on the two central feathers than on the othe 1 pted bars of the same hue; these marks are broader

hers, and moreover do é i i

not reach the edge on either sid
« eo e oO f e 1 €.
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PHASIANUS VERSICOLOR, Pie.

Japanese Pheasant.

Phasianus versicolor, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. ii. p. 23. pl. 205—Temm. Pl. Col. 486 & 493.—Gray and Mitch.
Gen. of Birds, vol. 1. p. 497, Phasianus, sp. 3.
Diardi, Temm. Pl. Col. in Text to P. versicolor.

 

In writing the history of a species of Pheasant, which, if I mistake not, is hereafter destined to become an
object of interest and importance ‘to the sporting communities both of this island and of the temperate
portions of the continent of Europe, it will be well first to state the country of which it is a native, and the
probable date of its discovery. Up to the present time then, 1857, we have no positive evidence that the
bird is found elsewhere than in the Island of Japan; yet, from the information I have received from two
different sources, it would seem that it also occurs in China. Professor Brandt, the celebrated natu-
ralist of St. Petersburg, when in England a few months since, informed me that a similar Pheasant
was certainly known to Pallas, who, as every one is aware, extended his travels to the confines of China;
but I have never met with any record of it in the writings of that author; the circumstance of its bemg
known to him must rest, therefore, on Professor Brandt’s testimony. On showing a Japanese specimen to
Mr. Webb, a gentleman who has long resided in China, he informed me that, to the best of his belief,
it was a native of that country, and was quite certain that he had seen two kinds there—one having a
white collar, the Phasianus torquatus; the other without such a distinguishing mark: if this ringless bird
should prove to be a species at present unknown, I hope ere long to have the pleasure of giving a figure
of it in the present work.

It would seem that when that Nestor of ornithologists, M. Temminck, published his ‘« Histoire naturelle

>

générale des Pigeons et des Gallinacés”” in 1813, this bird was “not known, as no account of it is to be
found therein; figures of both sexes, however, were published in his subsequent and more valuable work,
the “Planches Coloriées des Oiseaux,” from specimens sent direct from Japan to Holland by Dr. Siebold ;
but Vieillot appears to have been the first author who assigned it a specific appellation, taking his
description from an example in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes, to which in all probability it
had been sent either by Dr. Siebold or M. Temminck, to whom in fact all the collections in Europe are
indebted for the specimens they contain of this fine bird.

About the year 1840 living examples were brought from Japan to Amsterdam, and of these a male and
a female were purchased by the late Earl of Derby at a very high price; unfortunately the female died
before reaching the menagerie at Knowsley, leaving the Noble Earl in possession of the male only. No
other example having been brought to England, it is from this single male and a female of the common
species that all the green Pheasants, now becoming so numerous in a British Ln have sprung.
The produce of the first cross was of course a half-breed; the old male being placed again with these half-
breeds, the result was a three-quarter race ; and these breeding again with the old bird, the produce
became as nearly pure as possible. |

On the dispersion of the late Earl of Derby’s living collection, i old corks and tlie puns! portion
of his progeny were purchased by Prince Demidoff, and, with the exception of a pair left with Mr. Thompson,
then superintendent of the Knowsley Menagerie, were sent to Italy. John Henry Gurney, Esq., of
Norwich, and other gentlemen, became the possessors of the less pure stock. Some of Mr. Gurney’s
birds were turned out in the woods at Easton, and all the eggs which were laid in his aviary were also
hatched in the preserves, thus giving rise to the Norfolk varieties. o .

Mr. Thompson’s birds annually producing numerous eggs, he has een enabled to distribute living
birds to various persons, both in this country and abroad. Although not without a taint of foreign blood
‘n their veins, these birds and their offspring are so similar to examples killed in their native country that
they are not distinguishable. 7 )

The P. Colchicus, the P. torquatus, and the P. versicolor readily breed with each other, and, contrary to
the usual course of nature, the progeny of either two are capable of ee qT he results which
have arisen from this introduction of fresh blood among our old stock of semi-domesticated Pheasants is

i ing, as 1 ; an I in size and flavour, and marvellously beautiful
perfectly amazing ; producing, as it has done, an increase in size a ; y

variations in the colour

species, the blood of which predominates. i fag Pl ieee
In form, habits, and disposition, the P. versicolor assimilates more nearly to the Common Pheasant of our

ing of the plumage, the principal hues of which correspond with those of that

 
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woods than the P. torquatus, and moreover does not exhibit that inclination to wander, so characteristic
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of the Ring-necks, a circumstance much in its favour. Nothing, however, can be more uninteresting to the
S> a . é 2 2
f - nee than the mongrel varieties produced by the introduction of these new Pheasants, which bid
man of scie an t gs : oe ae eae
that I have little hesitation in saying, in twenty years from this time nothing like
at ve lit j

fair to increase so rapidly,
oe this, however, will be of little moment, since they may be
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a true species will be found in this country; ae ey a: ae
: : : , ic . “r natural habitat; namely, . Colchicus in Asia
obtained in those portions of the globe which form their nature y/

Minor, P. ¢orguatus in China, and P. versicolor in Japan. aye lealleennd

I cannot close this paper without returning my thanks to John Henry Gurney, Henry Kelsall, and G. D.
Berney, Esqs., for several interesting varieties of these pheasants. .

The male has the forehead, crown and occiput purplish oil-green ; ear-tufts glossy-green ; chin, throat,
sides and back of the neck glossy changeable bluish-green; back of the neck, breast, and under
surface deep shining grass-green, with shades of purple on the back of the neck aml! pp eL part of ihe
breast ; feathers of the back and scapularies chestnut with buffy shafts, and two narrow lines of buff running
round each, about equidistant from each other and from the margin; lower part of the backs and upper
tail-coverts light glaucous-grey; shoulders and wing-coverts light greenish-grey washed em purple ;
primaries brown on the internal web, toothed with dull white at the base, outer web greyer ad irregularly
banded with dull white; tertiaries brown freckled with grey, and margined, first with greenish-grey, and
then with reddish chestnut; centre of the abdomen and thighs blackish-brown ; tail glaucous-grey, slightly
fringed with purplish, and with a series of black marks down the centre, opposite to each other at the base
of the feathers, where they assume a band-like form ; as they advance towards the tip they become gradually
more and more irregular, until they are arranged alternately, and in like manner gradually increase in size;
on the lateral feathers these marks are much smaller, and on the outer ones are entirely wanting, those
feathers being covered with freckles of brown; orbits crimson-red, interspersed with minute tufts of black
feathers ; eyes yellowish-hazel ; bill and feet greenish horn-colour.

Compared with the female of the Common Pheasant, the hen of the present bird has all the markings
much stronger, and is altogether of a darker colour. She has the whole of the upper surface very dark or
blackish-brown, each feather broadly edged with buff, passing in some of the feathers to a chestnut hue;
those of the head, and particularly of the back, with a small oval spot of deep glossy-green close to the
tip; primaries and secondaries light brown, irregularly barred with buff, and with buffy shafts; tertiaries
dark brown, broadly edged with buff on their inner webs, and mottled with dull pale chestnut on the outer
web, the edge of which is buff; tail dark brown, mottled with buff and black on the edges, and crossed by
narrow irregular bands of buff bordered on either side with blotches of dark brown; on the lateral feathers
the lighter edges nearly disappear, and the bands assume a more irregular form; throat buff ; all the
remainder of the under surface buff, with a large irregular arrow-head-shaped mark near the top of each
feather; thighs similar, but the dark mark nearly obsolete.

The Plate represents the two sexes about three-fourths of the natural size, from a drawing by Mr. Wolf.

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PHASIANUS MONGOLICU S, Brandt.
Mongolian Pheasant.

Phasianus Colchicus, var. Mongolice, Pall. Zoogr., tom. ii. p. 84.
Mongolicus, Brandt, Bull. des Sci. de St. Pétersb., tom. iii. p. 51.

 

As any additional information relative to the history of the typical Pheasants cannot fail to be of interest to
various classes of the community, I have considerable pleasure in giving a figure of a very fine bird of this
genus, at present scarcely known even to the scientific world. The obscurity in which it is involved is due
to the small amount of European intercourse with the distant country of which it is a native, and the
little we do know respecting it is derived from Pallas and other Russian travellers and naturalists.

I am indebted to Professor Brandt, of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, a gentleman
distinguished for his profound acquirements in many branches of natural history, not only for a very beautiful
skin of this species, but for the following note, which I give in his own words. I am also indebted to the
intrepid Siberian traveller, Mr. Atkinson, for some notes respecting the Pheasants seen by him during his
journey, and which doubtless have reference to the present bird and the Phasianus Colchicus.

“The Phastanus Mongolicus,” says Professor Brandt, “is the variety Mongolice of the Phasiani Colchici
of Pallas (Zoographia, vol. ii. p- 84), of which that naturalist has himself said, at p- 85,—‘ Dubius heereo
an hane avem pro varietate Ph. Colchici vel pro distincta specie tradam;’ but I am satisfied that it is quite
distinct, both from that bird and from the P. ¢orquatus; I have therefore assigned to it the specific desig-
nation of Mongolicus. Independently of the localities mentioned by Pallas, the P. Mongolicus is also found
in Tarbagatai and in the Altai, and is doubtless spread over the country lying to the westward.”

‘In answer to your inquiries about the Pheasants of Asia,” says Mr. Atkinson, “I beg to say that I first
observed them on the wooded banks of the Lepsou, a river which falls into the Balkash; these had the
white ring round their necks ; they were also seen in vast numbers on the borders of all the small rivers
and in the wooded ravines in the great horde of Kirghis, which stretch along the foot of the Alatou Moun-
tains. Further to the west, on the Kezzil-a-gatch, I found the Common Pheasant in considerable numbers ;
I have also seen several that were brought from the country to the west of the river Ilia. After extending
my journey to the Gobi Desert, south of the ‘Tangnou Mountains, I again found them on the small rivers of
Mongolia, and these also had the white ring.”

We have now therefore a knowledge of the existence of four very distinct, but nearly allied species of true
Pheasants, which, contrary to the usual course of nature, will probably cross with each other in a state of
semi-confinement, the produce of which, if not prolific with each other, will be so with their parents on
either side; the four species are, Phastanus Mongolicus, P. torquatus, P. versicolor, and P. Colchicus. Of
these the most powerful is the P. Mongolicus, the native country of which is Mongolia and Chinese Tartary,
while that of P. ¢orguatus is Eastern China, P. versicolor Japan, and P. Colchicus Asia Minor and Western
Asia.

The P. Mongolicus differs from all the other species above enumerated in its larger ae in the glaucous
colouring of its shoulders, and particularly in the narrow and well-defined barrings of its tail-feathers ; it has
the lunate mark of white on the neck much broader than in P. torguatus ; and it also differs from that bird
in the absence of any buff colouring on the sides, or of any black colour on the abdomen ;

The male may be thus described :—Crown of the head and nape greenish bronze, in some lights very
strongly tinged with purple; sides of the head and neck green; round the back of the neck a pugad lunate
mark of pure white; feathers of the base of the neck and one part of the back bronzy red, with a small,
nearly triangular mark of black at the tip of each ; remainder of the Racleteatioa chestnut-red, broadly
margined with greenish bronze ; shoulders or lesser wing-coverts glaucous ae ; greater coverts grey, with
white shafts, on either side of which are two irregular marks of chestnut, which advance towards each other
and meet near the apex of the feather; primaries brown, margined externally with buff, and toothed
internally with greyish white ; secondaries greyish brown, motéled with darker brown, and broadly margined
with chestnut, some of the feathers having a broad whitish stripe down the centre ; breast and under sumtace
fiery chestnut-red, each feather broadly margined with bronzy green ; those of the flanks crossed at the tip

by a line which in some lights is black and in others brilliant green, the extent SS eas

as the feathers proceed towards the vent; these flank feathers aren of a oo i oe
than the other parts of the body ; centre of the abdomen 0 the thighs, a3 : a y clot ce me oe
brown, glossed on the tips of the feathers with green ; tail-feathers bronzy red, crossed by Se ee
bars of black, bordered on each side by a lighter line of bronzy rc than the body of the feather ; all Las
tail-feathers fringed with bronzy green ; the hue of the longer tail-feathers becomes paler towards the tip
and the bands greatly increased in breadth ; under tail-coverts deep si ct Jet
Total length, 3 feet 3 inches ; bill, 1 inch ; wing, 104 inches oe tena = a : : " o . A
The female I have never seen ; but there are specimens in the Museum at St. ee a are = e
by M. Kareline, at Semipalatinsk in Siberia, near the Slemtes: frontier, Z a ee = aa
Kinchhoff; and another in the Museum at Bremen, which latter, Dr. Hartlaub informs me, is s

darker in colour than the female of P. Colchicus.

The figure is about two-thirds of the natural size.

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ITHAGINIS GEOFFROYIL, J. Verr.

Geoffroy’s Francolin.

Ithaginis Geoffroyii, J. Verr. Bull. Soc. d’Acclim., 2de série, 1867, tom. iv. p. 706.—Elliot, Mon. of Phas. pl.
—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part il. p. 264.—Swinh. Proc. Zool. Soc., 1871, p. 400.

Ir is always a matter of great interest to ornithologists when a new species is discovered of a form of which
there was previously but a single representative known; and it is of equal interest to me to publish in the
‘ Birds of Asia’ figures of both sexes of the new bird here represented thus early after its existence has been
placed on record. Figures and descriptions, together with all the information that has been acquired
respecting the bird, have also recently appeared in Mr. Elliot’s fine ‘ Monograph of the Phasianide ;’ and it
is with the kind permission of that gentleman that I transcribe and give below the account therein published.

In my history of the older known species, Ithaginis cruentus, 1 have assigned to it the trivial name of
Sanguine Francolin, while Mr. Elliot, regarding the present bird as a member of the Phasianide, gives to it
that of Geoffroy’s Blood-Pheasant. Mr. G. RB. Gray, on the other hand, places the two species among the
Perdicine ; thus it will be seen that a difference of opinion exists as to the place this singular and interesting
form should occupy among the Gallinacee ; their general contour and the existence of two or more spurs on
each of their tarsi induce me to associate them with the Francolins.

The following is Mr. Elliot’s account of Ithaginis Geoffroyii :—

“This Blood-Pheasant, being only the second species of the genus yet known to ornithologists, was first
obtained by M. Dabry, Consul of France at Hankow, who sent his specimens to the Acclimatization Society
of Paris. It is not so handsome a bird as its relative, but is interesting as being the only representative of
the Himalayan species yet discovered. M. Verreaux, in an article published in the Bulletin of the Accli-
matization Society of Paris, says of this Pheasant that ‘it is easy to see, by the description we give of the two
sexes, that the species is very distinct from the typical one found upon the mountains of the Himalaya,
described first by General Hardwicke, in the Linnean Transactions, under the name of Phasianus cruentus,
and later, by Temminck, in the Planches Coloriées, as Perdix cruenta—ouly that the individual described by
the latter author as a female was merely a young male without spurs, having a brown plumage, darker than
that of our new species. We are happy to bestow upon this beautiful bird (the second of a genus remaining
so long with but a single representative) the illustrious name of Geoffroy as a mark of our esteem and friend-
ship for M. Albert Geoffroy St.-Hilaire. It was in the north of China that this fine bird was met with.’
No account of the habits or economy has been furnished us ; but, doubtless, as the adventurous naturalists
who are pursuing their investigations in those remote parts become more familiar with it in its native
haunts, they will forward full accounts of its mode of life, which cannot fail to be interesting to all lovers of
Gallinaceous birds.

“ Pere David, who visited Moupin, in North China, after M. Dabry, sent to the Museum at Paris a perfect
series, containing many specimens of all ages and both sexes, of this species.”

Male.—Top of the head lead-colour ; front and line over the eye extending nearly to the ears black ; cheeks
lead-colour, with a central streak of white ; throat rufous ; wing-coverts pale green ; shafts white, margined
on each side with black ; secondaries grey, mottled near the edges; primaries brown, all the shafts bite
underparts grey; centres and ends of feathers light green ; base of feathers blacks with grey margins ;
abdomen greyish brown; tail greyish brown, the feathers edged with red; under tail-coverts black at base,
the rest deep red; shafts white; bill black ; bare space about the eye, and feet and legs, blood-red.

Female.—Top of the head, back, and sides of neck lead-colour 3 front and throat rufous brown. Entire
upper parts brown, finely mottled with light brown; rump slightly lighter (ein the back ; Dee reddish-
brown, finely mottled with black ; tail blackish brown, finely mottled with light brown and whitish; under
tail-coverts blackish, with fine lines of light brown ; bill black ; feet and legs red.

The Plate represents a male, of the natural size, with a reduced figure of a female in the distance.

 
 

 
 

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ITHAGINIS CRUENTUS.

Sanguine Francolin.

Phasianus cruentus, Wardw. Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. Dea 23u.
Sanguine Pheasant, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p- 205.
Perdix cruentata, Temm. Pl. Col. 332.

Ithaginis cruentus, Wagl. in Isis, 1832, p. 1228.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 504, Ithaginis, sp. 1.

—Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq.,
p. 126.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. of Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, 241.—List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll.,
ant Wie p. 31.

Francolinus cruentatus, Cuv. Regn. Anim., tom. i. p. 484.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 505.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Gallina-
Cee Ole te ple. 7.

Perdix cruentatus, Jard. Nat. Lib. Gallinacee, vol. ii. p. 90.

Phasianus Gardnerii, Hardw. Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p- 166, female.

Lophophorus Gardneri, Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 180.

Ithaginis Gardneri, Wagl. in Isis, 1832, p. 1228.

 

Tux Ithaginis cruentus is a gallinaceous bird peculiar to the great Himalayan range, and may be regarded as
one of the finest species of the group inhabiting that region ; it differs from them all in structure and also in
the distribution of its colouring ; the propriety therefore of Wagler’s constituting it the type of a distinct
genus is very apparent. So great is the dissimilarity of the sexes, that the late Major General Hardwicke,
to whom we are indebted for our first knowledge of the species, described them as distinct, under the specific
appellations of cruentus and Gardneri: the information he was enabled to furnish respecting it was very
meagre, and I regret to say that up to the present time little more has been acquired. When speaking of
the male, he says: ‘“ This fine species is a native of the Nepaul Hills, and it is to the liberal contributions of
the Honourable Edward Gardner, Resident at the Court of Nepaul, that I am indebted for the opportunity
of describing it.” Of the female he remarks—

“This singular bird is a native of the Snowy Mountains north of the valley of Nepaul, and was procured
through the zealous exertions of my friend Dr. Nathaniel Wallich, aided by the influence of the English Re-
sident at Katmandoo (the Honourable Edward Gardner), without which no single article, of however little
value, is obtainable from that jealous people the Nepaulese. It is the only subject of its kind obtained
during Dr. Wallich’s sojourning at Katmandoo, and from its scarcity at that place it may be deemed one of
the rarities of the country.”

The native habitat of the species has been more recently visited by Dr. Hooker, who has kindly furnished
me with the following notes respecting it :—

“« This, the boldest of the Alpine birds of its kind, frequents the mountain ranges of Eastern Nepaul and
Sikkim at an elevation varying from 10,000 to 14,000 feet, and is very abundant in many of the valleys among
the forests of Pine (ies Webbiana) and Juniper. It seldom or ever crows, but emits a weak cackling noise.
When put up it takes a very short flight and then runs to shelter. Durmg winter it appears to burrow
under or in holes amongst the snow, for I have snared it in January in regions thickly covered with snow
at an altitude of 12,000 feet. I have seen the young in May. The principal food of the bird consisting of
the tops of the pine and juniper in spring, and the berries of the latter in autumn and mamter its flesh, has
always a very strong flavour, and is moreover uncommonly tough; it was, however, the only bird I obtained
at those great elevations in tolerable abundance for food, and that not very frequently. The Bhoteas say
that it acquires an additional spur every year; certain it is that they are more numerous than in any other
bird, and that they are not alike on both legs: I could not discover the cause of this difference, neither could
I learn if they were produced at different times : I believe that five on one leg and four on the other is the
greatest number I have observed.”

The male has the forehead, lores, and the feathers surrounding the orbits black ; crown of the head buff;
crest dull grey, with a stripe of buff down the centre of each Hace 3 ae of the neck and upper surface
dark grey, with a narrow stripe of buffy white, bounded on either cudle with a stripe of black, down the
centre of each feather, the stripes becoming larger and more conspicuous as they proceed backwards, ewe
with a tinge of green on those occupying the lower part of the back and the centre of the greater wing-
coverts ; tail grey, fading into greyish white at the tip, the shafts white, and the basal three-fourths s the
feathers broadly margined with blood-red ; throat blood-red ; Co black, striated with ee white :
lower part of the throat brownish black, with a stripe of greenish butt down each feather ; sides of t Ne
buff; breast, sides of the abdomen and flanks very pale green with light shafts, and the feathers of t :
breast with a blotch of deep blood-red near the centre of either margin, giving the part he ae
being stained with blood ; centre of abdomen, thighs and vent dark brownish grey, oF wit oe
white bounded by black ; under tail-coverts deep blood-red, wath a narrow line of pale yellow ending in a

; her; orbits red; legs and feet deep red ; base of
spatulate form at the tip, down the centre of each feather ;

the bill and nostrils red ; tip of the bill black. ‘ :
The female has the ie ear-coverts and throat rust-red; remainder of the: plumage vets sora

minutely freckled with black ; tail dark brown freckled with black and buff; under surface similar, but
redder than the upper.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

 
 

 

 
 

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TETRAOPHASIS OBSCURUS.

Mou-Pin Snow-Partridge.

Lophophorus obscurus, J. Verreaux, N. Arch. Mus. v. Bull. p. 33, pl. vi. (1869).

Tetraophasis obscurus, Elliot, Monogr. Phasian., i. pl. xxi. (1871).—Swinhoe, P. Z. S., 1871, p. 399.—David, N.
Arch, Mus. vii. Bull. p. 95 (1871).

 

Pére Armanp Davin and Mr. Swinhoe really seem to have been rivalling each other for the last few years
in the discovery of new and undescribed species of birds from the Chinese Empire. The subject of our
plate, however, would have probably remained in obscurity for years to come, had it not been for the
adventurous French missionary, who has visited not only the parts of China usually accessible to Europeans,
but also the most outlying portions on the frontiers of Thibet, and the distant provinces of the interior.
The present species was procured by him in Mou-Pin, and must be regarded as one of the most interesting
of his discoveries. Although placed by its original describer in the genus Lophophorus, of which it exhibits
certain peculiarities, it cannot be denied that it is closely allied to the Snow-Partridges (Tetraogallus), to
which Mr. Elliot likewise recognizes its affinity.

All that has hitherto been recorded of the habits of the species is embodied in a short note of Pére David’s,
published in the ‘ Nouvelles Archives’ of the Paris Museum, as above quoted.

Writing on the game-birds of Mou-Pin, he observes :—‘ The splendid Lophophorus Lhuysti frequents
the elevated prairies which surmount the region of forests, as at Kokonoor, at an altitude of 4000 metres ;
but the species is not at all numerous. The Zetraophasis obscurus and Ithaginis Geoffroy stop lower down,
in the middle of the woods, which they never leave, any more than Pucrasia wvanthospila, which is also found
in these mountains. As regards the magnificent Zhaumalea Amherstia, it is found in the woods where the
wild bamboos grow in abundance, between an altitude of 2000 and 3000 metres. The Zhaumalea picta
lives a little lower still, towards Setchuan, and avoids the localities affected by its congener of the white-
and blue-banded hood. Ceriornis Temminckii and Phasianus decollatus (which for me is only a variety
of P. torquatus) are the most abundant Pheasants of the whole west of the Chinese Empire; the inhabitants
snare them in the thickets and woods of the smaller mountains.”

The accompanying account of the species is extracted from Mr. Elliot’s ‘ Monograph of the Phasianide.’

‘‘This curious bird is one of the late discoveries of the French missionary Pére David, and was described
by M. Jules Verreaux in the Archives of the Museum of Paris as Lophophorus obscurus. It cannot be con-
sidered to belong to that genus, although in some characters it resembles its members, but represents an
entirely new genus, and apparently connects a portion of the Phasianide with the Snow-Partridges or
Tetraogalli.”

‘“‘M. Verreaux says, ‘ This species, which at first sight calls to mind the appearance of Tetraogallus, was
sent to the Paris Museum in the last collection of R. P. David, who discovered it in his journey to Thibet.
The five individuals, representing different ages and sexes, prove not only that the species is new to science,
but also that it belongs to the genus Lophophorus, in which we have not hesitated to place it. It only
remains for us to know the habits of the bird, which we shall, without doubt, find in the notes which are on
their way, our indefatigable traveller having been ill when he sent the ese collection.’

‘The sexes resemble each other in plumage, the only difference being that the female is destitute of
spurs. é ‘

‘The species may be described as follows :—Top of head and cheeks greyish brown ; hind part of neck
and back rufous brown; wings dark brown, feathers tipped with yellowish white ; panna dark brown ;
rump grey; upper tail-coverts very pale brown ; on chestnut, eee u a ee uae
white ; upper part of breast dark grey, each feather ve a eee. line of ad 7 : a blac Nae at
the tip; flanks rufous brown, tipped with yellowish white ; middle of abdomen ye a i fe fe i. -
having their outer webs chestnut ; under tail-coverts dark chestnut, ae oe oe 3 oe
white tips ; the chestnut divided from the white by a narrow black line; tail-feathers ae : a ie aes
then a broad band of black, and tipped with white; bare skin of face red ; feet and tarsi horn-colour.

The figures are about the size of life.

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. CERIORNIS MELANOCEPHALA.
Western Horned Pheasant.

Satyra melanocephala, Gray in Griff. Anim. King., vol. iii. p. 29.—Ib. Ill. Ind. Zool. vol. i
Cat. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part iii. p. 28. oe

Nipalensis, Gray in Griff. Anim. King., vol. iii. p. 29.—Ib. Ill. Ind. Zool., vol. ii. pl. 40.

Tragopan Hastingsit, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci.and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 8—Gould, Century of Birds
pls. 63, 64, 65.—Hutton, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvii. part il. p. 695.

Ceriornis melanocephala, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 499, Ceriornis, sp. 2.—Ib. Cat. of Spec. and Draw
of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 125.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in
Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 240. ie :

Jewar, Jewari, Simla, Blyth.

pls. 46, 47, 48.—Gray,

 

Jahjee, Simla, Hutton.
Iwire, Mussooree, Hutton.

 

Tue only living example of this species that has come under my notice, and perhaps the only one that has
ever reached this country, was the splendid adult male presented to Her Majesty by Lord Hardinge on his

 

return from India. This fine bird lived for several years in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, and while

i there, I was graciously permitted to take a drawing of it for the present work; I was also allowed to
i” examine the bird immediately after death, and by these means I have been enabled to give for the first time

a correct representation of the gaily-coloured soft parts, the hues of which vanish so rapidly after death.
a The circumstance of this bird having lived in good health for some years, in a situation so little suited to
oe: its habits as a garden in the midst of a great city, tends to prove that if introduced into more favourable
localities, the species might ere long be constantly seen in our aviaries, if not even naturalized in this
country. It is to be hoped then, that with the vast facilities for transport we now possess, some steps will
be taken towards promoting so praiseworthy an object. The route by which this might be most readily
effected would be by way of the Indus to Kurrachee, and thence to England by the overland route, care being
taken that the transit be performed during the cool season.

The bird is strictly a mountain species, and appears to be confined to the slopes of the North-western
Himalayas, particularly those of the hills to the northward of Simla.

I am indebted to Major-General Hearsey for the following notes respecting this fine species :—

“The district of the Himalaya Mountains where I obtained the Horned Pheasant was Gurhwal, to the
north-west of Almorah in Kumaon, where I was encamped at a village named Rammee from April to
September. Immediately above this village the mountain rises in three steps of about a mile in length,
east and west, and half a mile in width; these steps are cut across by rather deep and narrow khuds or
small gulleys, the sides of which are covered with high brushwood, but to the north-west there is a con-
siderable valley, which terminates at the crest of the hill, forming the third or highest step. In these khuds
or gulleys, and in the valley, I was frequently successful in bagging the Déappea and Moonaut, the former
being the Gurhwalee name of the male, and the latter of the female. At the top of the third step leading
to the crest of the mountain are extensive tracts of the ‘ Negallee’ or thin Himalayan Bamboo, which
although not much thicker than a finger, grows from fifteen to twenty feet in height, and is so thick-set
that you cannot force your way very far into it. A spur from the snowy range is not more than eight
miles distant, and during the early winter months—October and November—the different kinds of Pheasants
are driven down from the more inaccessible portions of the spur by the accumulation of snow, and are
frequently taken in the strong hair-snares set for them by ;
feed. Their principal food is the small bulb of a ground Orchis, which has scoop out of the earth with
their strong hooked bills. The natives in this part of the country call them Singal Punchee, which signifies
‘Horned Bird.’ We kept some living examples for several months, and brought a very fine one down
with us to the plains in Rohileund. The azure-blue horns are usually pendent, but when the bird is
excited they become erect, and a similar hue pervades parts of the curiously-shaped wattle attached to the

under mandible and the front of the neck.

the natives in the places to which they resort to

 

 

 
 

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«<A favourite resort of these alpine Pheasants is the brushwood and forests clothing the sides of the high
di Cc Z , .

Toongassee mountain, which lies between Rammee and Joseemuth, where the hazel-nut is abundant, and

ass ’ 7 as he :

: ink-flowered Rhododendron with yellow under-surfaced leaves also abounds at the highest

where the p : :
This mountain is, I believe, about 18,000 feet high, and is only traversable

elevation of brushwood growth. ae ite top ie neat eae
during the months of August and September, when it 1s tolerably free from snow ; its top is ulated an
S

studded with small hills or rounded cupola-shaped mounds, among which flowering bulbs and grass abound,
and among them the bird, doubtless, finds a supply of its favourite food. I never met with any young birds,
nor did I ever find any of the nests or eggs.” .

Captain Hutton informs us that a pair kept in confinement lived contentedly, became exceedingly tame,
and produced two eggs in June, both of which, however, were destroyed by the male; their colour was pale
rufous-brown, like those usually termed in India ‘ game hen’s eggs.’ Captain leatctom adds that the species
is peculiar to the confines of the snow on the loftier hills of the North-western eLieliaya: |

The sexes of few birds differ more widely in colour than do those of the present species, the female being
dressed in a sombre-coloured livery, while the male is adorned with the deepest tints and most conspicuous
markings, and with wattles and horns of the most brilliant hues; the eoloments al these horns and wattles
is, however, only conspicuous during the breeding season; at other periods cs the year they are greatly
contracted or shrivelled up as it were, and their colours are very much less brilliant, so much so, indeed,
as to present little or no indication of the tints they exhibit at the pairmg season; of which the following is
an accurate description.

Crown of the head, crest and ear-coverts black ; bill black; irides hazel; naked skin of the throat rich
deep bluish-black in the centre, passing into rich indigo-blue on the sides, into verditer-green at the base of
the bill, and beset with black hairs ; wattles thin, free, the upper part deep blue, the lower four-fifths rich
reddish flesh-colour, corrugated and edged with rich blue, and with four diagonal stripes of the same hue
proceeding from a central black line towards the outer edge ; orbits, a series of small fleshy wart-like papilla,
of a rich yellowish-vermilion with light blue interspaces ; the upper edge of the orbits, and the pointed
fleshy horn-like processes proceeding from their posterior upper angle, bluish verditer-green ; back and
sides of the neck and a large patch on each shoulder maroon-red ; all the upper surface and wings freckled
black and sandy-buff, with numerous spots of white encircled with black ; primaries dark brown, crossed by
irregular freckled bars of sandy-buff; on the upper tail-coverts the sandy freckles are larger and more con-
spicuous, and at the end of each feather is a large spot of white, bounded on the sides with pale chestnut-
brown, and above and below with black; tail black, freckled with sandy-buff at the base; on the centre of
the breast a number of stiff lanceolate blood-red feathers ; feathers of the under surface maroon-red, freckled
at the base with buff and brown and largely tipped with black, in the centre of which is a spot of white;
these white spots are of small size on the breast, but gradually increase until they become very large towards
the tail; the black tips and white spots, too, occupy so much of the feather, that the maroon hue only
occasionally appears; legs and feet reddish flesh-colour.

In the young male the plumage is less brilliant, the horns and wattles but little developed, the orbits are
of a dull yellow, and the lanceolate feathers of the breast are orange instead of blood-red.

The general hue of the female is light brown, mottled and barred with fine zigzag lines and spots of
blackish-brown ; the feathers of the back with a narrow central streak of buffy-white, and those of the under
surface with larger and more conspicuous markings of the same hue near the tips of the feathers ; bill and
legs paler or more horn-colour than in the male.

:
The Plate represents two males about three-fourths of the natural size, and two females in the distance
much reduced.

 
 

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CERIORNIS TEMMINCKII.

TYemminck’s Horned Pheasant.

Satyra Temmincku, J. HE. Gray in Hardw. Ill. Ind. Zool., vol. i. pl. 50.—Bonap. Compt. Rend. de |’Acad. Sci., tom.
xlii. séance du 12 mai 1856.

Tragopan Temminckui, Benn. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part ii., 1834, Da aoe

Certornis Temmincku, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p- 499, Certornis sp. 3.—Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in

Coll. Brit. Mus., part. v. Galline, p. 41.—Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 123.

 

For our first knowledge of the existence of this Chinese species of Certornis we are indebted, as in the case
of the Phasranus Reevesit, to the gentleman after whom that bird was named. It is true that it formed one
among the many grotesque objects represented in the rice-paper drawings which had for many years been
sent to Europe, but which was supposed to be entirely imaginary, until living examples in the celebrated
menagerie of the late Mr. Beale, at Macao, attracted the notice of Mr. Reeves, who did not rest until
he had sent specimens to the national collection, and made us acquainted with a bird of which we had
previously only seen faulty representations. Now (1868) living examples not only grace our menageries, but
are breeding as freely as any species of a form differing essentially from every other comprising the
avifauna of Europe can be expected to do: it is fortunate that such is the case; for ornithologists have
thereby been enabled to study their varied actions and manners during the exciting period of spring, and
to ascertain that they are both curious and interesting. Of the true habitat of this bird, which is probably
the most eastern species of the genus, as the C. melanocephalus is the most western, our knowledge is
extremely scanty ; for all we know is that it is a native of China, probably the hills in continuation of the
great Himalayas. On the southern slopes of these lofty ranges, but at a considerable elevation, all the four
known species most likely dwell; two of them certainly reside there, namely the C. melanocephalus in the
north-western provinces of Kumaon, at an elevation of 10,000 feet, and the C. satyra at a similar altitude in
Nepaul, Bootan, and Sikhim ; but, as before mentioned, the habitat of the present species is unknown ; and we
are equally unacquainted with that of C. Cabotz. Besides being indebted to Mr. Reeves for the first intro-
duction of C. Temminckii, science is under considerable obligation to Mr. James J. Stone for his perseverance
in obtaining many of the living examples now in this country; and I have, moreover, to thank him for the
loan of specimens of both sexes, whereby I am enabled to give a more faithful representation of them than I
could otherwise have done. The accuracy of the accompanying plate has, moreover, been greatly aided by
Mr. T. W. Wood’s sketches of the form and colouring of the wattles of the male during the nuptial season.
The displays of this appendage made by the bird at that time are most astonishing, and must be seen to be
appreciated : so extraordinary are they, that the keepers in the Zoological Society’s Gardens could not help
expressing to me their surprise and wonder at its instant prolongation and cOntEACHOH|; like a flash of
lightning ” was the simile of one, ‘like brilliant fireworks ” that of another. ‘These manifestations of oo
ment I have also witnessed myself; and the sudden descent of the immense wattle a ee and red, the dila-
tation of the cylindrical pendent horns of verditer green and blue, and the depression of SE ea of the
crown, and their lateral expansion over the eyes, afforded me much pleasure and delight. To figure tee
instantaneous exhibitions is impossible ; and beautiful as the accompanying representation may appear, it
falls far short of the original.

One of the earliest contributors to our knowledge of this bird is Dr. George Bouncy of Sydney, New
South Wales, who, when in England in 1834, exhibited, at the meeting of ube Zoological Society of Eondon
held on the 13th of May, specimens of three kinds of Ceriornes, including the present species, and) in
illustration of its history, placed upon the table drawings of specimens olsenel by him 2) Uluen, showing
the remarkable wattle in various stages of expansion, and read the following note on the ee —

‘“‘In its contracted state the membrane has merely the appearance al 2 Putas skin under the lower
mandible; and is even sometimes so much diminished in size as to be quite invisible. : Me aie
during the early spring months or pairing-season cae year, drom January to Mare ; B 5 ; ; ae a
being displayed or contracted at the will of the bird. During excitement it aon — : ji ‘ ON :
breast, and exhibits the most brilliant colours, principally of a vivid purple, with bright red an ora spots,

‘ ae . oe , f excitement. When they are most brilliant (that
the colours varying in intensity according to the degree o » "Phe livitie sue nn ene eect eatin
is, when the excitement is great) the purple horns are usually elevated. he ae - ci i ne |
Bennett were procured from the province of Yunnan, bordering on Thibet. Mr. Beale, in ya

. Y r i
: — acee is Zu Xou Meu.
Macao they were, had not succeeded in obtaining females: te Che ee

 
 

other members of the genus, are so well marked

The specific distinctions of this bird, compared with the
of the abdominal feathers

that they need not be dwelt upon ; but I may mention that the grey centres
constitute the most conspicuous of them.
As is the case with all the other species, the sexes differ materially in colour.
The male has the lores, forehead, a few of the foremost feathers of the crest, a broad stripe over each
nd nape deep black ; remainder of the crest, neck, and

eye, the ear-coverts, the sides of the head, occiput, a
also chestnut-red 10 general appearance, but on

breast rich deep chestnut-red ; all the upper surface 1S
examination each feather is found to be mottled with black and white, the latter assuming a V-shaped form
with the base towards the extremity; at the centre of the tip is a nearly round spot of white encircled by a
narrow ring of black, on each side of which the tip is rich deep chestnut ; primaries blackish brown,
conspicuously mottled on the outer and minutely on the inner web with tawny or deep buff; feathers of the
under surface of the body and the under tail-coverts grey, broadly margined with reddish chestnut, which,
on the thighs, gradually becomes light red without any grey in the centre; lower part of the tail-coverts
deep grey, gradually mingling with the dark dull red of their margins ; tail mottled black, brown, and buff;
wattles rich blue, with, in the centre of each side, a series of short bands of scarlet; the undersides of the
wattles are moreover sparsely clothed with black feathers, which, projecting beyond the edge, give them
a fringed appearance ; bill and feet horn-colour.

The female is mottled all over with brown, black, and buff, with a few white markings on the centres of
the back-feathers, and of grey on those of the breast.

The accompanying plate represents a male nearly of the size of life, and a female considerably

reduced.

 
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CERIORNIS BLYTHII, Jerd.
Blyth’s Horned Pheasant.

Ceriornis Temmincki, Jerd. Ibis, 1870, Dealt

—_— Blyth, Jerd. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 1870, p. 60.—Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1870, pp. 162, 163,

164, 219, pl. xv.—Elliot, Mon. of Phas., pl.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, pt. ii. p. 262.

 

“In October last” (1869), says Mr. Sclater, “ Dr. T. C. Jerdon, the well-known Indian naturalist, addressed
to me a letter from Shillong, a new sanitarium on the Khasya Hills in Upper Assam, stating that he had
obtained from the hill-ranges in the neighbourhood of Suddya a skin of a Tragopan (Ceriornis), distinct from
either of the well-known Indian species, but which he believed might be C. Temminckii of China, and had
seen a living example of an Impeyan from the same hills, which he regarded as probably new to science, and
proposed to call Lophophorus Sclateri.

“In a subsequent communication, received through Dr. J. Anderson, our excellent correspondent and
honorary agent at Calcutta, Dr. Jerdon informed me that, in the interests of the Society, he had begged of
Major Montagu, of the Bengal Staff Corps, the fortunate possessor of the new Impeyan, the living bird in
question, as also a living example of the so-called Certornis Temminckit, in the same gentleman’s possession,
and had forwarded them to Calcutta to Dr. Anderson for transmission to the Society. Dr. Jerdon likewise
stated that, since he last wrote, having had an opportunity of consulting authorities, he had convinced him-
self that the Ceriornis was distinct from C. Temminckii, and, in a notice sent to the ‘Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal,’ had proposed to call it Ceriornis Blyth.

“Tt is to Major Montagu, therefore, that the Society are primarily indebted for these two splendid birds,
which reached us in safety on the 12th inst., though our best thanks are likewise due to Dr. Jerdon and Dr.
Anderson for their kind assistance in the matter, and to Mr. William Jamrach, who most liberally undertook
to convey them home, under his personal care, and has delivered them to us in excellent condition.

«¢ Amongst the described species of the genus it most nearly resembles C. Cabot:, being below mesially of a
nearly uniform colour, somewhat as in that species, and not distinctly ocellated as the three other members of
the genus. It is, however, to he recognized at first sight by the splendid golden yellow of the naked face
and throat.” eo. ae

Mr. Elliot, speaking of this species m his ‘Monograph of the Phasianide,’ says ‘The individual Nove
referred to is now (June 1870) in the Gardens, Regent’s Park, and is in a very healthy condition. It is
quite tame, and appears to have become reconciled to its captivity. In ioe same eee venue of C.
Temminckii has been placed ; and his manner of paying his addresses to ans new companion is very naLeTests
ing. When approaching her, he lowers all the feathers which are on the side nearest to her, almost hiding

his legs, showing to the greatest advantage the beautiful markings of his plumage, and the admirable manner

in which the various colours blend into one another. The tail is widely spread at the same time, and lowered

: : ae See ee eS Te ee
towards the ground ; and in this way making the best display of his beautiful plumage, he ae y
1 atching appe 2 indifferent to the attractive
round the hen, who, at least while I was watching them, appeared perfectly indiffere
S = © 99
creature who was endeavouring to arrest her attention. sé thie bindlse fannie ny te ea
icati i 187 ; s that this bird 1 » hill-re
In a communication to ‘The Ibis’ for 1870, Dr. Jerdon states tha ae oe 5 |
ing, it 1s arte aslOl a rather low level.
Upper Assam towards the head of the valley, descending, it is asserted, occasionally to a ré
2 ”?
It is called “ Sun-séria” by the natives, which means the “‘ Golden bird.
s fine bird did not grace the Society's menagerie for any lengthened period, but, dying
5 c 3 ;
s~TeEe yo . le I
was thereby enabled to make perfect the accompanying ae
for one hail with great pleasure the discovery of this valuable acquisition, which makes one wonder if there
: = . + 2. 7»
‘os yet to be found of this beautiful form, and also of the equally beautiful genus Lophophorus,
A hese iz. Lophophorus I’ Huysit and L. Selaterv.
of which two new ones have lately become known to us, viz. Lopuoplone e :
; hs « orr ° Gs nes
Inasmuch as a verbal description of the colourmg and of the form and arrangement of the a ng .
a S ssarily fail of ¢ i n adequate idea
: I fer minute and accurate, must necessarily fail of conveying an adequé ‘
no cor cen ibe tl but refer my readers to the accompanying Plate,
ibe them, but rete c )
shall not attempt to descr
ng example above mentioned.
The very reduced figure in the background is supposed to

Unfortunately thi
in its finest state of plumage, I

of its appearance, I ne
in which they are accurately displayed from the iv1
The principal figure is nearly of the size of life.

represent what the female will be like.

 
 

 
 

 

 

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CERIORNIS CABOTIL, Gould.

Dr. Cabot’s Horned Pheasant.

 

Ceriornis Caboti, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XXV. ee tole

 

Amone the many emiment and liberal men I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with during my visit
to the United States of America in the summer of 1857, was Dr. Cabot of Boston, a gentleman highly
distinguished as a traveller, and for his devotion to the study of natural history. In his collection were many
rarities, some of which especially interested me, but none more so than the remarkable bird represented on
the opposite Plate, and which had been received by him from China. Dr. Cabot very kindly permitted me to

 

bring this fine bird to London, for the purpose of figuring it in the present work ; which being done, it will
now be returned to him with many thanks from myself, and I am sure those of my readers generally. I
could obtain no other information respecting the bird than that it was from the country I have mentioned,
and, I believe, the neighbourhood of Macao. I was for some time in doubt as to whether it was not a mere
variety of some previously known species of the genus, but after repeatedly and very carefully comparing it
with the whole of them, I could come to no other conclusion than that it is distinct from them all, and there-
fore gave it the name of Ceriornis Caboti, as a just tribute to its owner for his liberality. In form it is a
perfect Ceriornis, and in the colouring of its head and the whole of its upper surface it is equally so ; but it
differs in its markings from all the other species of the genus. It was the beautiful buff colouring of the
breast which so perplexed me, as it is not to be found in any of the others; but it is so regular and so well
defined, that I am convinced it is a good species. As a matter of course, the well-known Chinese member
of the genus, Cerzornis Temmincki, was the bird with which the most careful comparison was instituted ; it
is, however, found to differ from that bird, both in the markings of the back and in the tints which pervade
the under surface. In the Temmincki these tints are of a semi-uniform character of colouring, the general

hue being grey, while in the Cadoti the same part is buff; colours of such an opposite nature, that they will
e somewhat longer than those of any

 

 

 

not change from one to the other; I remark, too, that the legs ar
‘other known species.

Forehead, sides of the head, nape, and chin black ; crest and sides of the neck deep red; all the upper
rich chestnut, buffy white, and black, the latter coloration assuming the form of
a large circular spot at the tip of each feather, this buff mark greatly increasing in size on the ‘scapulamies
and the greater wing- and _tail-coverts ; primaries and tail-feathers very dark brown, crossed with toothed
markings of buff mottled with black ; breast and under surface deep sandy buff, stained with red and black
on the flanks, under tail-coverts and thighs.

Total length, 183; bill, 15; wing, 10; tail, 72; tarsi, 325
The figure is about two-thirds of the natural size.

surface mottled with black,

middle toe and nail, 22.

 

 
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CERIORNIS SAP Ye RA.
Nepaulese Horned Pheasant.

Meleagris Satyra, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. Dp:
Penelope Satyra, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p: 733.
Phasianus Bengalensis cornutus, Briss. Orn., vol. vi. Suppl. p. 14.
Satyrus, Temm. Hist. Nat. des Pig. et Gall.,
tom. il. p. 23, pl. 206.
Horned Pheasant, Edw. Nat. Hist. of Birds, p- and pl. 116.—Lath.
Turkey, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 680; Suppl. p. 203.
Tragopan Satyra, Cuv. Régn. Anim., edit. 1829, tom. i. p. 479.
Satyrus, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr.
Cent. of Birds, pl. 62.
Satyrus, Temm. Pl. Col. 043, 544.
Lathami, Reich. Syst. Av., p. xxix.
Satyra Lathami, Gray in Hardw. Ind. Zool., pl. 51.
Pennantti, Gray ibid., pl. 49.
cornuta, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 1848, DeAor
Ceriornis satyra, Gray, List of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm, and Birds pr. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq.,
p. 125.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 240.—Jerd. Birds of Indo vol, ue pe. lle
p- 516.—Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part. v. Galline, p. 40.
Latham, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 499, Ceriornis, Dae
Tirriak-pho of the Lepchas. Bup of the Bhoteas. Dafia of the Bengalese.

269.—Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. ii. p. 619.

tom. 11. p. 349, et tom. iii. p. 672.—Vieill. Gal. des Ois.,

Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 208.

 

of Zool. Soc., part 1. (1830) pp. 122, 173.—Gould,

 

 

 

Tue Certornis Satyra, the oldest known member of the genus, is another of the splendid productions of the
southern slopes of the Himalayas, inhabiting, as it does, Nepaul, Sikhim, and Bhotan, while its near ally,
C. melanocephala, frequents the country extending from the neighbourhood of Simla to Afghanistan. We
have no knowledge of the vast hilly region eastward of Sikbim; but I think it likely that the present bird
may extend its range in that direction until it inosculates with the Chinese C. Temminchi and C. Cabot.
All the species of the genus appear to inhabit the temperate regions of the ranges in which they respectively
dwell, mostly at an elevation of from 6000 to 10,000 feet, sometimes ascending to the line of perpetual
congelation, but never descending to the hot forests at the base of the hills. As the present bird is an
inhabitant of a climate not very different from our own, it was supposed that it could be naturalized in this
country; and the apparent success of the earlier experiments seemed to justify such a conclusion; but
I believe that all these attempts will end in futility. At first, like many other eastern birds, they appear
to enjoy the change, and breed freely; a second year shows a great falling off; and the third generally
terminates their existence. As a bird for the aviary no one can be more beautiful and interesting ; it is,
indeed, a pleasure to look upon its rich colouring during the short time it will live with us; and more than
interesting to witness the display made by the male, when desirous of attracting the notice of ule female,
on the approach of the breeding-season; now it is that we see during ane momentary expansion of the
quivering wattles a display of colour unequalled for the beauty and depth of its tints ; as, however, the proud
male only now and then lowers the wattles to the extent shown in the smaller figure of tne accompanying
Plate, it becomes necessary to pay repeated visits to the aviary, or the opportunity of RIS it will be
lost. As is the case with the other members of the genus, much diversity occurs in the colouring of the
sexes. With these few somewhat general remarks, I now proceed to transcribe with acknowledgment, the
accounts given of this bird by my contemporaries :-— ee ee
«This species,” says Mr. Jerdon,” appears to be very abundant in papas and is not rare in es at
considerable elevations. I bave seen it at about 9000 feet in spring : in winter it descends to between 7000
and 8000 feet in the vicinity of Darjeeling, and perhaps lower in ihe nbenor. It as frequently snared by
the Bhoteeas and other hill-men, and brought alive for sale to Darjeeling. Its call in spring is a low, deep,
bellowing cry, sounding like waa-ung, waa-ung.” A ce
+ Daring tvo yea evidence Dajcing in the Skim Hina” ss Captain evan, had
many opportunities of observing the habits of the ie ee ee nice eo ae
and in captivity, and have often been after them gun in hand, atte ee y § Ra
: he steep forest-clad slopes of the mountains, at an elevation
2.e. sportsman. I have usually found them on t I

of from 6000 to 9000 feet above the sea. They generally prefer the neighbourhood of water, but are, 7
amongst the densest underwood, and where the greatest part o

= . always found my
far as my experience goes, alway of that zone. They are seldom seen

‘ : Bey ae oe he other trees
the vegetation consists of oak, magnolia, ilex, and the «

 
 

a human footstep they invariably run, if they can; and

isturbe i hearing
on trees except when disturbed by a dog; on hearing
at these or any other game-birds that

it is anything but an easy matter in Sikhim to get a fair shot | - in
inhabit that country. When they do rise, they always fly down the side of the mountain 5 and : e ae any
4 a Ree va -y rapidly, is, to a man who perhaps for
glimpse one gets of a scarlet object between the trees, flying very 2 vase P I
as been toiling on hands and knees, and creepit |
Shooting under such difficulties is therefore but little practised by
oO

r game for the table, generally hire a native, either a Lepcha

1 iously h ig through prickly bushes as silently
some hours previc us ,

as possible, anything but satisfactory.
Enropeans; those who want skins of birds, 0
or Nepaul man, who, by lying close near the known haunts
within shot. The winter months, when the underwood is not so dense as at other seasons, are the only
period of the year at which even the natives can get at pies ae ae
hedge of bushes about 3 feet high, extending down the sides of a hill, like the sides of a triangle with the

base open. The sides are made to gradually converge until eo
e then slowly driven by men on foot, walking in line, towards

of the birds, and imitating their call, draws them
The usual plan of capture is by making a

near the apex, where small gaps are left, in

S . ir 2 ye \ « eo
each of which a noose is placed. The birds ar
the base of operations, if I may so call it; and the birds, continuing to run instead of resorting to flight,

dash through the openings and are caught in the nooses.
generally four or five of the former to one of the latter.

A curious fact with regard to this mode of
capture 1s, that the proportion of males to females is a Da
The birds brought into Darjeeling for sale are usually sold for about four shillings each, if it happens to be

I have seen them sold at two shillings each. Early morning or the

a dry season, but generally more.
after them; and the former is preferred by the natives. They are then

evening are the best times to go
heard calling on all sides, and, by dint of severe crawling and creeping, oa Hs the chance of a shot, which
as likely as not will be at the bird running ; and the sportsman must avail himself of the very first glimpse
of the bird to fire, or he will not be likely to see it a second time.”

“Tt is quite impossible,” says Mr. Bartlett, “to convey in writing or by a drawing the EEO
beauty of the living male bird while courting the female; no language can accurately describe it ; and
the vibratory motion of the head and neck renders a drawing out of the question. It must be seen to be
mienecande: Mr. T. W. Wood, in some notes communicated to Mr. Bartlett, gives the following account
of the birds as seen by him in the Zoological Society’s Gardens :—‘‘ The males can only be seen to
advantage in the early morning and in the evening, as they conceal themselves during the day; the females,
however, are less retiring in their habits. When the male is not excited, the horns lie concealed under two
triangular patches of red feathers, their points meeting at the occiput; the large wattle is also concealed or
displayed at the will of the bird. The male has three distinct modes of ‘showing off, if I may be
allowed the expression. After walking about rather excitedly, he places himself in front of the female with
the body slightly crouching upon the legs, and the tail bent downwards ; the head is then violently jerked
downwards, and the horns and wattle become conspicuous; the wings have a flapping motion, and the
bright red patch on them is fully displayed. The whole of the neck appears to be larger than usual during
this action, as do also the horns, which, moreover, vibrate with every movement. This scene is concluded
by the bird suddenly drawing himself up to his full height, with his wings expanded and quivering, the horns
erect, and the wattle fully displayed. The second mode consists of simply erecting all his feathers and
elevating one shoulder, thereby exposing a greater surface to view, without, however, showing his head-
dress. The third mode is by simply standing boldly erect on an elevated perch, giving the head one or
two sudden shakes, and causing the horns and wattle to appear for a few moments.”

As any description, however accurate, must fail to convey a just notion of the colouring of this fine
bird, I shall content myself with referring my readers to the accompanying plate, in which it is correctly
depicted. The female represented in the upper figure differs greatly from the male, bemg of a sombre
brown mottled with a darker tint, and with a few faint white Imes on the upper part of the back and wing-
coverts ; primaries chestnut, banded with dark brown; chin whitish; under surface ornamented with white
lines which increase in size from the breast to the vent.

The young males resemble the females, and when assuming the plumage of maturity are spotted with red
on the neck, wings, and under surface.

“The eggs” are described by Mr. Sclater to be of a ‘‘ creamy white, minutely freckled and blotched with
two shades of pinkish grey, and measure 2°45 by 1°8 inch.” Mr. Bartlett states that the young birds, when
nearly hatched, are not unlike the chicks of the Woodgrouse (Capercaillie), and that their wings are then
sufficiently developed to enable them to mount the branches of trees or shrubs.

The Plate represents an adult male, about two-thirds of the natural size, and contains a reduced figure
of the same sex displaying the horns and wattle, and a still further reduced female.

 
 

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POLY PLECTRON CHINQUIS.
Assam Peacock-Pheasant.

Pavo tibetanus, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 294, pl. xxviii. A. fie. 2?
edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p- 731 ?—Bonn. al
fig. 3.—Cuyv. Régn. Anim., 1829, tom. i. pee

Le Chinquis, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. ii. p. 365; Pl. Enl., 492, 493.

Thibet Peacock, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 675.—Shaw, Nat. Misc.

Polyplectron chinquis, Temm. Hist. Nat. des
—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus.
—Swinh. ibid., p. 307.

—Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 26. no. 2 8?—Gmel.
Vieill. Ency. Méth., Orn., parti. p. 179, pl. 83.

» pl. 441.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii, plz}
Eas et des Gall., tom. ii. p. 363, tom. il. p. 675.—Id. Pl. Col., 539.
Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 241.—Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 124.

—— thibetanus, Bonap. Compt. Rend de I’Acad. Sci., 1856, p. 878.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds
vol. ili. p. 495.

— albo-ocellatum, Cuv.
lineatum, Gray and Hardw. Ill. Ind. Zool., pl. 38.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p- 495.

cyclospilum, P. atelospilum, et P. enicospilum, G. R. Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus.,
part v. Galline, pp. 23, 24 ?

thibetanum, Elliot, Mon. of Phas., pl.
Diplectron bicalcaratus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. ii. pl. 203.

 

Own reference to my account of the Polyplectron bicalcaratum, it will be seen that I regard the synonymy of
that species and of the bird here represented as being in a state of inextricable confusion, and believe it
impossible to determine with certainty to which of the two best-known species of this form the descriptions
and even the names given by the older authors are referable—and that I there stated my intention to retain
the above name for the bird from Malasia, or the Malayan Peacock-Pheasant, and to employ Temminck’s
term of chinguis for the Assam and Sylhet species (¢. e. the one here figured), which may or may not be
the Pavo tibetanus of Brisson, Linneus, and Gmelin ; but I quite agree with Mr. Sclater that, if it be, the
name ought not to be retained, since, as might be supposed, the bird is not an inhabitant of that cold
northern region.

Few and slight indeed are the notices on record of this species; by far the most interesting is comprised
in the following extract from Ornithognomon’s ‘“ Game-Birds of India,” published in ‘The Field’ news-
paper :—

“This bird inhabits the great southern branch of the Himalaya, which passes through Burma, where the
range is called the Yomadoung, or Backbone mountains, through Tenasserim. Blyth, in his ‘ Catalogue of
the Birds in the Asiatic Society's Museum,’ gives Sylhut, in Eastern Bengal, as a habitat ; and it is said to
be found in all the mountainous parts of Assam. It is also met with in the eastern parts of Chittagong, and
in all the inland hills of Arakan.

“T have never shot this bird, and, indeed, only once came upon it, in a narrow path leading along a
ridge about 3000 feet above the sea, in the mountains on the British side of the Thoungyen Tv, venich
separates Tenasserim from Yahan in Siam. It started so suddenly, having ey ae dusting itself mm
the path, and shot so rapidly through the jungle down the kud, that, had it not left two or three of its
feathers behind, I should not have known what bird I had flushed. I am not aware of any English spouismian
ds; and, indeed, it frequents such inaccessible places as effectually to defy

having ever bagged one of these bir
a height of six or eight thousand feet above the sea, and

approach. These mountains in the tropics rise to

from six thousand feet downwards are clothed with such a dense mass of trees, Se
ogether by creepers and tangle, that it would be an hour’s labour to cut one’s

d to this, there is not a square foot of level ground anywhere

thickets, underwood, bamboos,

and thorny rattans, all bound t
way through a hundred yards of such stuff. Ad
off the pathway, and the sides of these hills are a
slide down the greasy soil, ever moist with the dripping aa a
finds himself brought up in a mass of thorny tangle, or, while plunging ae we
leaves, trips headlong over one of the thousands of ate logs and trunks which, burte : age,
lie concealed from the eye of the most vigilant.”

ther d to which the explorer ts exposed from venomous insects of various kinds and the deadly

o ° eS 2 = bs ie ‘ o 2 . »
other dangers to W and proceeds to say that, “if, undeterred by all these obstacles, the
9 a J Zs

the lower he descends the more oppressive grows the
almost stifling. The air, which, keen and

so steep that walking along them is most difficult. The feet
s of the trees and decayed vegetation, and the explorer
p through a slough of rotting

prostr a :
The writer then gives a vivid description of the many

miasma engendered in such localities
sportsman forces his way down the steep

atmosphere ; and the heat at the bottom, 1

incline,
f he can reach so far, 1s

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vengan on the giddy height far above, here scarce circulates.
A stony stillness, an oppressive weight, broods over the deep and perpetual shade engenders a chilling
deadly damp, in which broods the most fatal miasma. However, such are the spots where the Polyplectron,
the Kallij, the Fireback, and other species of hill-Pheasants dwell in the heat of the day, or seek refuge when

fresh, waves the lofty branches of the colossal Tl
abyss 5

disturbed from above.

«T have kept these Peacock Pheasants in captivity, which they appear to bear tolerably well, but never
become thoroughly tame. They were incessantly uttering a soft low cluck, but emitted at times a cry or crow
being the same clucks loudly and rapidly repeated. It devours grain of all kinds and insects with equal
eagerness.”

Dr. Jerdon informs Mr. Elliot that a living specimen, pr
‘is a timid bird, and does not care for leaves, but is very fond of inse
lizards, and raw meat. It has a peculiarly fine rich whistling call, which it utters daily about sunrise and
occasionally at other times.”

In Mr. Sclater’s “ List of the Species of Phasianidz, with remarks on their
roceedings of the Zoological Society of London’ for 1863, he says :—‘ We received two
males of this species in 1807, presented to us by the Babu Rajendra Mullick, which are still living in good
health in the Gardens. The same gentleman has again sent us a pair this year; but the female unfortunately
died before reaching England. There is, however, no doubt that this fine bird would do well in captivity.”

Subsequently Gin July 1864), the Babu sent another female, which has several times bred in the Society’s
Gardens, and by this means we have become acquainted with several particulars in the bird’s economy, which

esented to him and now in the Zoological Gardens,
cts, and will eat greedily of small fish, frogs,

Geographical Distribution,”

published in the ‘P

are doubtless equally characteristic of those of the other species of the genus: thus we now know that two
or three broods in a year are frequently produced by the same pair, that the young follow closely behind
the female and are often covered by her tail, that the normal number of the eggs is two, and that they are
peculiarly delicate in form and colour, assimilate very closely to those of the Golden Pheasant (Zhaumalea
picta), and are of a cream- or buffy white, nearly two inches in length by one inch and seven sixteenths in
breadth.

Mr. Elliot, states, in his ‘Monograph of the Phasianide,’ that the Superintendent of the Zoological
Society’s Gardens, Mr. A. D. Bartlett, informed him “that, the first time the young of this species were
hatched in their gardens, a Bantam hen was employed for a foster-mother, and that the chicks would follow
close behind her, never coming in front to take food, so that in scratching the ground she frequently struck
them with her feet. The reason for the young keeping in her rear was not understood until, on a subsequent
occasion, two chicks were reared by a hen P. chinguis, when it was observed that they always kept in the
same manner close behind the mother, who held her tail widely spread, thus completely covering them ;
and there they continually remained out of sight, only running forward when called by the hen to pick up
some food she had found, and then immediately retreating to their shelter. It was thus rendered evident
that, the young in following the Bantam hen were simply obeying the instincts of their nature, although the
upright tail of their foster-mother failed to afford them the protection which they would have found had they
been reared by a female of their own species.”

The accurate representation of these fine birds, taken from the living examples in the Gardens of the
Zoological Society, renders any verbal description quite unnecessary, except to remark that the spots on the
back are of a rich metallic purple in all lights, while those on the tail are green.

The figures represent the two sexes, about nine-tenths the size of life. ;

 
Lug APY AD, FP? PP PTPRT OT B® PTHOOL” H

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POLYPLECTRON BICALCARATUM.

Malayan Peacock-Pheasant.

Pavo bicalearatus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 268.

Malaccensis, Scop. Flor. et Faun. Insubr., oo:

Polyplectron bicalcaratum, G. R. Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part v., Galline, p. 23.—Blyth
Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Calcutta, p. 242.—Sclat. in Proc. Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 124, a

Le petit Paon de Malacca, Sonner. Voy. aux Ind. Orient. et a la Chine, tom. ii. p. 173, pl. 99.

 

 

Four or five distinct species of the beautiful tribe of birds known to ornithologists by the generic title of
Polyplectron, or Peacock-Pheasants, doubtless exist; that there are more than these is, in My opinion, very
questionable ; and it is quite certain that a far larger number of specimens than are to be found in any
museum must be brought side by side, and very carefully compared, before the actual number of the species
can be determined with accuracy. The synonymy of two of them, which in this work I shall respectively
eall P. bicalcaratum and P. chinquis, is involved in such complete confusion as to defy the most astute orni-
thologist to ascertain correctly to which of them many of the names of the older authors really pertain. I
have therefore only placed such synonyms to the present bird as I believe have reference to it, retaining,
like Mr. Blyth, the term d2calcaratum for the Malayan bird, skins of which are so commonly found in col-
lections sent from Singapore and the Malay peninsula, and which is represented on the accompanying
Plate. ‘Sufficient for the time is the evil thereof;” I shall therefore defer speaking of P. chinguis and its
synonymy until I figure that equally beautiful species.

The present bird, P. décalcaratum, is somewhat smaller than P. chinguis, and, moreover, differs from that
species in the browner tint of the ground-colour of its plumage and in the larger size of the spots on its tail-
feathers. It is, as before mentioned, an inhabitant of the Malayan peninsula, but not of China, on the one
hand, nor of Java, on the other; as regards the avifauna of the Peninsula of India, neither it nor the
P. chinquis is comprised therein. The females of all the members of this well-defined genus differ very con-
siderably from the males—their plumage being sombre indeed when compared with that of their mates, as
may be seen on reference to the opposite Plate.

The specific term dicalcaratum, although not inappropriate, is not the best that could have been applied,
since in some cases (in the specimen from which my figure was taken, for instance) two spurs are found on
one leg and three on the other ; it is evident, therefore, that this is a variable character. .

The male has the crest greenish blue, the remainder of the head and the back of the neck banded with
alternate irregular bands of black and grey; all the upper surface and wings brown, feckice and spotted
with dark brown; each of the feathers of the mantle, scapularies, and wing-coverts with a nearly circular,
glossy, and apparently raised or convex spot, which in some lights appears green, in others fine purple with
rendered the more distinct by the ground-colour of the feather surrounding
upper tail-coverts browner, and more minutely freckled
those just described ; on

an edging of black, and which is
the spot being of a lighter tint and forming a ring 5 ore
with blackish brown, a few on each side with a double oval spot near the tip, like ;
the last row of coverts these spots become greatly increased in size, are bounded posteriorly with buff, aud
anterior to them the tip of the feather becomes washed with rufous ; on oe pam” oe ee
arrangement of spots and tints is seen, but greatly increased in size 5 primaries ae a o ;
lighter shafts; under surface brown, each feather having the se its margin, " c | rec a a
paler brown ; centre line of the throat freckled and spotted with kal: on @ a y eer 5 e ae
coverts very dark brown, and the spaces so luminous above are plain brown without Irecktes; th
appear to have been reddish ; irides yellow ; bill and feet horny eae

The general plumage of the female is brown, freckled and margined with
indication of spots on the tail.

The Plate represents a male and a female, a

a lighter tint, and with a faint

bout the natural size.

 
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ARGUSIANUS ARGUS.

Great Argus Pheasant.

Argus Pheasant, Lath. Syn. iv. p. 710 (1783).—id. Gen. Hist. B.

Phasianus argus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p- 272 (1766).

Argus pavonius, Vieill. Gal. Ois. pl. 203 iss) == Encycl. Méth. ple Sve tee Se

paoninus, Less. Traité d’Orn. p. 488, & Atlas, pl. 84 (1831). :

ggenteus, Temm. Hist. Pigeons et Gall. iii. Pp. 678.—Jard. & Selby, Ill. Orn, pls. 14, 15.—Blyth, Cat. B.
Mus. As. Soc. 1849, p. 242.—Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863, pp. 124-222.— Wallace, Malay Archip. i.
p. 32.—Elliot, Monogr. Phas. len (1872).—Hume, Str. F. 1878, p. 427.—Id. 1879, pp. 68-110.—Id.
& Marsh. Game Birds of India, i. p. 99.

Argusianus giganteus, Gray, Gen. B. iii. p- 103 (1845).—Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 509 (1864).—Gray, List Gall. Brit.

Mus. p. 25 (1867).—Blyth, B. Burm. p- 148 (1875).

argus, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. xiv. p- 85 (1879).—Oates, B. Brit. Burm. ii. p-. 313 (1883).
Argusa giganteus, Kelham, Ibis, 1881, p. 530.

Viti. p. 203 (1823),

 

 

 

Tuts splendid Pheasant is chiefly known as an inhabitant of the Malayan peninsula, whence it ranges
northwards into the dense forests in the neighbourhood of the Pakchan river in Tenasserim, and_ it
also extends into the island of Sumatra. In Borneo its place is taken by the allied species Argusianus
grayi; but the common Argus is said to reach to Siam, where it was obtained by the late M. Mouhot. In
Cochin-China it would appear to be replaced by the lately described Reinhardius ocellatus, two specimens
of which now grace the galleries of the Paris Museum. Several descriptions have been written of the habits
of the Argus, most of which are too lengthy to be reproduced here, especially as they will be known
to the majority of my readers from Mr. Wallace’s ‘ Malay Archipelago,’ Messrs. Hume and Marshall’s
‘Game Birds of India,’ Mr. Elliot’s ‘ Monograph of the Pheasants,’ and Mr. Tegetmeier’s work on Pheasants.
One of the best accounts, however, of the present bird is that given by Mr. Davison in the sixth volume
of ‘Stray Feathers.’ This gentleman resided for several months in the neighbourhood of Malewoon, in
Tenasserim. He gives full information as to the mode in which these Pheasants are trapped by the
Malays; and I make the following extract from his account of the habits of the birds, especially as the above-
mentioned paper is less likely to be known to my readers :—

«They live quite solitarily, both males and females ; every male has his own drawing-room, of which
he is excessively proud, and which he keeps scrupulously clean. They haunt exclusively the depths
of the evergreen forests, and each male chooses some open level spot, sometimes down ina dark gloomy
ravine, entirely surrounded and shut in by dense cane-brakes and rank vegetation, sometimes on the
top of a hill when the jungle is comparatively open, from which he clears all the dead leaves and weeds
for a space of six or eight yards square, until nothing but the bare clean earth SINS 5 and thereafter
he keeps the place scrupulously clean, removing carefully every dead leaf or twig the may happen to
fall on it from the trees above. These clear spaces are undoubtedly used as dancing-grounds ; but
personally I have never seen a bird dancing in them, but have always found the proprietor me od
quietly in or moving backwards and forwards slowly about them, calling at short intervals. oe in
the morning and evening, when they roam about to feed and drink, the males are always to be found
at home, and they roost at night on some tree quite close by. ce ee

“They are the most difficult birds I know of to approach : a male Ms roa ca me a ae ;
follow up the sound, taking care not to make the slightest noise, till et a ie mt a aa
few yards of you, and is only hidden by the denseness of the Bee: ee a - be a ee
hardly daring to breathe, and suddenly emerge on the open space ; ae au i
bird has either caught sight of or heard or smelt yo and a run 0 ee Ye i ¥ es
if they can possibly avoid it, but run very swiftly away, alway

rise, even when pursued by a dog, : ; a
choosing the densest and most impenetrable part of the forest to retreat through. en
atience to secure the bird by trapping It.

cleared space is discovered, it is merely a work of a little p rR. B. S.J

 
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LOPHOPHORUS IMPEYANUS.
Monaul.

Phasianus Impejanus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. ps Go25

curvirostris, Shaw, Mus. Lev. pl. p. 103.

Lophophorus refulgens, Temm. Pig. et Gall.—Ib. Pl. Col. 507, male ;
Zool., vol. xi. p. 249. pl. 15.

Impeyan Pheasant, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. p- 208. pl. 114.—Th. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 210. pl. cxxv

Phasianus Impeyanus, Vieill. et Bonn. Ency. Méth. Orn., Part I. p. 186. pl. 88. fig. 1. ee

Le Monaul Impeyan, Vieill. et Bonn. Ency. Méth. Orn., Part I. p. 366.

Monaulus Impeyanus, Vieill. Gall. des Ois., tom. ii. pl. 208.

Lophophorus Impeyanus, Gould, Century of Birds, pl. 60, male; 61, female.

Impeyanus refulgens, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 488; Atlas to ditto, pl. 85.

Monaul; Ghur Monaul; Murgh-i-zari (Golden Fowl). Murgh Muhshor ;

 

 

513, female.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen.

male Ratteeah; female Monaulee.

 

Tue native habitat of this fine bird is the hilly regions of Upper India generally; but chiefly in those
portions of the Himalayas which range between seven and ten thousand feet above the level of the sea.

Although it has been described and figured in nearly every work of any importance, no account whatever
of its habits had been published until the following interesting details were given “By a Mountaineer,” in
the “India Sporting Review,” the greater portion of which I take the liberty of transcribing,

“The Monaul is found on almost every hill of any elevation from the first great ridge above the plains to the limits of the wooded
district, and in the interior it is the most numerous of the game birds. When the hills near Mussooree were first visited by
Europeans, it was found to be common there, and a few may still be seen on the same ridge eastwards from Landour. In summer,
when the rank vegetation which springs up in the forest renders it impossible to see many yards around, few are to be met with,
except near the summits of the great ridges jutting from the snow, where in the morning and evening, when they come out to feed,
they may be seen in the open glades of the forest and on the green slopes above. At that time no one would imagine they were
half so numerous as they really are; but as the cold season approaches, and the rank grass and herbage decay, they begin to
collect together, the woods seem full of them, and in some places hundreds may be put up in a day’s walk. In summer the
greater number of the males and some of the females ascend to near the limits of the forests where the hills attain a great elevation,
and may often be seen on the grassy slopes aconsiderable distance above. In autumn they resort to those parts of the forest where
the ground is thickly covered with decayed leaves, under which they search for grubs ; and descend lower and lower as winter
sets in, and the ground becomes frozen or covered with snow. If the season be severe and the ground covered to a great depth,
they collect in the woods, which face to the south or east, where it soon melts in the more exposed parts, or descend much lower
down the hill, where it is not so deep, and thaws sufficiently to allow them to lay bare the earth under the bushes and sheltered
places. Many, particularly females and young birds, resort to the neighbourhood of the villages situated high up in the woods,
and may often be seen in numbers in the fields. Still in the severest weather, when fall after fall has covered the ground to a
great depth in the higher forests, many remain there the whole winter; these are almost all males, and probably old birds. In
spring all in the lower parts gradually ascend as the snow disappears.

“In the autumnal and winter months numbers are generally collected together in the same quarter of the forest, though often so
widely scattered that each bird appears to be alone. Sometimes you may walk for a mile through a wood without seeing one, and
suddenly come to some part, where, within the compass of a few hundred yards, upwards of a score will get up in succession ; at
another time or in another forest they will be found dispersed over every part, one getting up here, another there, two or three
further on, and so on for miles. The females keep more together than the males; they also descend lower down the hills, and
earlier and more generally leave the sheltered woods for exposed parts or the vicinity of the villages on the approach of winter,
Both sexes are often found separately in considerable numbers. On the lower part or exposed side on the hill, scores eas
and young birds may be met with, without a single old male; while higher up, or on the sheltered side, none but me es may be

in individual pairs, several being often found together. It may be
found. In summer they are more separated, but do not keep in in Pp : ea thatthe anions
questioned whether they do pair or not in places where they are at all numerous ; if they do, it ane See cae ia pet ule
dissolved as soon as the female begins to sit, for the male seems to pay no attention whatever to her whi st si pan i i Me oy
brood when hatched, and is seldom found with them. The call of the Monaul is a loud plaintive whistle, which is often hear
: f : eo I f the day. In severe weather numbers may be
in the forest at daybreak or towards evening, and occasionally at all hours o J rather elaucholy eounglonamete
heard calling in different quarters of the wood before they retire to roost. The call has ae 4 ae ee cat, pc en
be, that as the shades of a dreary winter’s evening begin to close on the snow-covered hills around, the a Pp
of nature, with which it seems quite in unison, makes it appear So. ey

“From April to the commencement of the cold season, the Monaul is rather wi 16a) 20. HILO Belgreen

taming influence of winter’s frosts and snows; and from October it gradually becomes ‘ess so, a aoe

it j i 7 i derwood, and never attempts to escape observation by concealing itself
reverse ; but as it is often found in places nearly free from un , a than other gRensanGt andesite eee
Bo fe pertaps sooner alarmed, and 2 @ coe a es it is difficult to get near it when it again alights,
all times a little wild and timid. In spring it often rises aoe Dae a A ‘oached within gun-shot on the ground, and when
if it does not at once fly too far to follow ; but in winter 1t may often be appr iis daite-clode toil before 1s Genie cal enmt
flushed it generally alights on a tree at no great distance, and Oe ie Mee far on the ground ; but on the open glades or

“In the forest, when alarmed, it generally rises at once without ieee i et run or walk slowly away in preference to
grassy slopes, or any place to which it comes only to feed, it will, if ja ar pe vddin anid dolenne cali nie reire
getting up ; and a distant bird when alarmed by the rising of oa ‘ noe of shrill alone whistles, often continued till it
while on the ground. It gets up with a loud fluttering and a rapid ae continues it for some time. In winter when one
alights, when it occasionally commences its ordinary loud and plaintive call a lected together, they get up in rapid succes-
or two birds have been flushed, all within hearing soon get alarmed j if a Es wa ee alarming others still further off,
sion ; if distantly scattered, bird after bird slowly gets up, oi ae oe a where they are often collected in numerous bodies,
till all in the immediate neighbourhood have misens fy the chestuut oe : tripped of their leaves, allow of an extensive view
where there is little underwood, and the trees, thinly dispersed and ee ae ce «die durrompditie ease cok wee en
through the wood, I have often stood till twenty or thirty have got up ane @ 1S

and shy, but this soon gives way to the all-

 
 

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without alarming them, only those close being disturbed at each report.

In spring they are more independent of each other’s movements, and though much pilcer are more apt to wait till individually
disturbed. When they alight in the trees and are again flushed, the second flight is always a long one. When repeatedly
disturbed by the sportsman or shikaries, they often take a long flight in the first instance. The ae have great influence
over them in this respect, as well as in their degree of tameness or wildness. In spring, when the snow has melted in almost every
part of the forest, and they have little difficulty in procuring an abundance of food, they appear careless about being driven. from
any particular spot, and often fly a long way ; but in winter, when a sufficiency of food is not easily obtained they seem more intent
on satisfying their hunger, and do not so much heed the appearance of man. ihe females appear at all times much tamer than
the males. The latter have one peculiarity, not common in birds of this order : if intent on making a long flight, an old male after
flying a short way will often cease flapping his wings, and soar along with a trembling vibratory motion at a considerable height in
the air, when, particularly if the sun be shining on his brilliant plumage, he appears to great advantage, and certainly looks one
of the most magnificent of the Pheasant tribe.

‘Tn autumn the Monaul feeds chiefly on a grub or maggot which it finds under the decayed leaves’; at other times on roots,
leaves and young shoots of various shrubs and grasses, acorns and other seeds eae bermes, In winter it often feeds in the wheat
and barley fields, but does not touch the grain; roots and maggots seem to be its sole inducement for digging amongst it. At all

times, and in all seasons, it is very assiduous in the operation of digging, and continues at it for hours together. In the higher
derwood, and early in the morning or towards evening, these may often

the different trees and fired at those I wished to procure

forests, large open plots occur quite free from trees or un
be seen dotted over with Monauls, all busily engaged at their favourite occupation.

«“The Monaul roosts in the larger forest trees, but in summer, when near or above their limits, will often roost on the ground, in
The female makes her nest under a small overhanging bush or tuft of grass, and lays five eggs of a dull

some steep rocky spot. ;
The flesh is considered by some as nearly

white speckled with reddish brown ; the chicks are hatched about the end of May.
equal to turkey, and by others as scarcely eatable. In autumn and winter, many, particularly females and young birds, are excellent,
and scarcely to be surpassed in flavour or delicacy by any of the tribe ; while from the end of winter most are found to be the
reverse. They are easily kept in confinement, and one would imagine might, without much difficulty, be naturalized in Europe.
“The young males for the first year nearly resemble the females, but may easily be distinguished by the white feathers on the chin
ith black ; the vent-feathers are also marked with the same, and the whole plumage has a darker and
rather glossy appearance. When changing their plumage, they appear spotted all over with the brilliant metallic hues, &c. &c. ;

the second year they receive the whole of their splendid colours, with the exception of the seventh long feather of the wing, which

and throat being spotted w

keeps the brown colour for another year.”

It is somewhat singular that this gorgeously plumaged gallinaceous bird should not, like the Common
Pheasant, have long since been naturalized in Europe: Lady Impey endeavoured to introduce living
examples into this country in the latter part of the last century, but unfortunately the attempt was unsuc-
cessful; had it been otherwise, it is highly probable that by this time it might have become an ornament
of our woods and an object of pursuit to the sportsman: what Lady Impey failed to do, has, however, been
accomplished by others; Lord Hardinge, late Governor-General of India, brought many living examples of
both sexes to England, some of which are in the possession of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, and a
pair grace the fine collection of birds at the Zoological Gardens in the Regent’s Park; and at this time,
June 1850, both native- and English-bred individuals may be seen in the aviary of the Earl of Derby at
Knowsley; a circumstance which tends to prove that were its introduction attempted on a large scale, it

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would be successful.

I am indebted to the Earl of Derby for the following interesting account of the success which has
attended the rearing of one or two broods of Monauls in his Lordship’s menagerie, and at the moment of
going to press with this paper, I hear that a batch of young from seven eggs is daily expected.

‘“T fear that on the subject of the Impeyan Pheasants I shall not be able to give you any important intelligence. My first pair
of these birds was purchased in 1846, and just before I visited London in the spring of 1847, I was somewhat surprised, as they
had never been observed to pair, by the hen laying an egg, and a few days after a second. For the reason above mentioned, and
from the circumstance of no sort of nest having been made, I had no expectation that these would hatch, but that no chance
might be lost, they were placed under a common hen, and when I returned to Knowsley I was much pleased to find they had
both proved productive ; two or three more were afterwards laid by the same hen in the same way, but these were good for nothing.
The two chicks that were hatched, were also reared through the following winter, and proved both hens, but as they did not agree
with the parents, and I had no second male, I was obliged to keep them separate, and both died in the course of the next year. The
old pair bred again in 1849: about this time I received a copy of the ‘ Calcutta Sporting Review,’ wherein I found it stated that the
Impeyan Pheasant in its own country only lays five eggs; I therefore desired Thompson, as soon as that number had been laid, to
set them, the mother having made no nest, nor evinced any disposition to sit upon them herself. This was of course done, and in
due time four of them were hatched. Contrary to the statement in the Review, the bird continued laying ; but still having faith in
the assertion there made, the eggs laid were set at different periods, and it is odd enough that in each of these detachments of
four, three, and two eggs respectively, one proved to be addled, while all the rest were fertile. I believe the bird laid in all about
thirteen or fourteen eggs, and that at one time I had either nine or ten chicks alive, and I am inclined to attribute our success to
the eggs having been set while yet so very fresh. Unfortunately here my success stopped, for the birds that were hatched, one
after another drooped, apparently from cramp, and died, leaving me at last with only one chick of this year, a fine healthy, but
apparently hen bird, now quite as large as the mother, but which we keep separate from the others. As to the egg, in size,
general colour and markings, it strongly assimilates to that of the Capercailzie.”—Knowsley, Nov. 15, 1849.

A broken egg, kindly transmitted to me by his Lordship’s direction, is of a pale buff with small spots of
reddish brown or chestnut, about two inches and three-quarters in length by about one inch and seven-eighths
in breadth, and, as his Lordship observes, is very similar in appearance to the egg of the Capercailzie.

r . . 5

The male has the —_ head and throat metallic bronzy green ; middle of the neck purple, glossed with
a coppery hue becoming paler or yellowish on the lower part, and all exceedingly brilliant and iridescent 5
back- and wing-coverts rich purple, each feather tipped with bronzy green; across the lower part of the
back a broad band of pure white ; primaries black; under surface and thighs dull black glossed with green ;
tail cinnamon-brown ; irides br » bi ‘kk hormee Sr yaa .

é a z | ae irides brown ; bill dark horn-colour ; orbits blue ; legs and feet greenish ash.
1e€ Male [ iF oy » oye aN ieee . ° . °
emale buffy brown, each feather striped and spotted with deep brown ; chin white; quills black ;
secondaries alternately barred with black and red ; bill, orbits, irides and feet as in the male.

The Plate represents the two sexes ; Tae ee : . ee
a ee a : i sexes about two-thirds of the natural size, from a spirited sketch in oil,
ak “Nn 7 / lee VC ro » r > ° ee aN: # ‘ a e e
aken by I voll trom the living birds in the Gardens of the Zoological Society.

 
   

 

 
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LOPHOPHORUS L’HUYSI, 4 Geoff. St-Hil

De PHuys’s Monal.

Lophophorus ? Huysi, J. Verr. et A. Geoff. St.-Hil. Bull. Soc. Accl., ser. 2, 1866 tom. ili. p. 223, pl.—Sclat. Proc

of Zool. Soc., 1868, p. 1 pl. 1.—G. R. Gra i
- ay] leo re male y, Handl. of Birds, part ii. p. 261.— hi mle
pl. xix.—David, Nouv. Archiv. du Mus., tom. vii. Bull. p. od Ee

ST SURaEcome

Waen the exclusiveness of the Chinese authorities ceased to exist, and their great country with its man

varied aspects was opened to the world, naturalists presumed that there would ik found numerous whew
in each department of science of the greatest interest; but certainly ornithologists were not pre eal
for the discovery of the splendid bird forming the subject of the present menoa We all toate ee
believed that the beautiful Himalayan Lophophorus Impeyanus could not be excelled in the rich tee of its
metallic colouring by a species from any other country, and moreover were incline | |
species was the sole member of its genus. Here, however, we were deceived; for
cessful rival to its Himalayan brother. In size it is about a third larger, y

d to suppose that that
the present bird is a suc-
vhile its flowing crest is still more
beautifully coloured. It is to the distantly located French Consuls and their still more enterprising mission-
aries that we are indebted for our knowledge of the existence of the Lophophorus 0 Huysi, its eodfathers being
MM. Jules Verreaux and Albert Geoffroy St.-Hilaire—just as the venerable Latham was of the L. Impeyanus,
which he named in honour of the wife of one of our Indian judges.

As might be expected, skins of this bird realized a large sum for their collectors. The British Museum
became the possessor of the first pair, which unfortunately are not in good condition ; subsequently, on the
return of Pere David, Mr. Elliot obtained a second pair. We then, for the first time, saw the bird in all its
glory; and I must here express my thanks to Mr. Elliot for his liberality in intrusting these skins to my care
for the purpose of figuring them in the present work. The figures, which are about two thirds the size of
life, will give but a faint idea of the colouring of the originals ; still I trust the Plate will be regarded with
interest.

All that is known with respect to the habits and the localities frequented by the Lophophorus l Huysi is
embodied in Mr. Elliot’s account of it in his ‘Monograph of the Phasianide,’ which I take the liberty of
transcribing.

“This magnificent bird, the second known species of the genus which had hitherto contained the most
brilliant member of the Phasianide (as in the beauty of its rich metallic plumage it defied comparison with
any other of the family), was first made known to ornithologists by MM. J. P. Verreaux and Albert Geoffroy
St.-Hilaire, who described it in the publication above referred to. It was procured by M. Dabry, French
Consul at Han-Keow, who stated that it came from the ‘diocese of Moupin, at the foot of the mountains of
Chinese Thibet, and watered by the upper Yank-tse-Kiang.’ This discovery is most interesting to science
on account of the genus having thus far comprised but a single species, described for the first time in 1790
by the naturalist Latham in his ‘Index Ornithologicus’ under the name of Phastanus impeyanus, which
inhabits the mountains of the Himalaya, in a climate analagous to that where the present bird is found, as it
frequents elevated and inaccessible regions, sometimes covered with snow. . . . Let us hope that M. Dabry
will not delay to send to the Jardin d’Acclimatation some living examples of the oo creature which
he has discovered, and that very soon we shall see it in company with the Lophophorus impeyanus, of which,
on account of its beauty, it may justly be styled a rival. _

“As yet the hope expressed in the above has not been fulfilled ; for no Ing examples have reached
any part of Europe, and the single pair which were the type of the species remained pce in the ee
Museum, where they were deposited, until another pair in even finer plumage were received at tte museum
in the Jardin des Plantes from the Missionary Pére David, who procured them also in Chinese Thibet.

“In size the present species is even larger than its relative the LZ. Up ee isis ee
beautiful sight to the sportsman when, suddenly flushed, it rises on the wing displaying the rich metallic hues

of its burnished plumage flashing in the rays of the sun. Its crest is much fuller than that of the Monal, and

the long feathers have their tips of a rich purple colour, continually changing to a more brilliant or deeper

shade as it is moved from or towards the light. aoe
“ Male.—Head and lengthened crest green, with rich purple reflections ; back of the neck and the upper

part of the back metallic red; wings green, with blue and purple reflections ; primaries Pea ae
part of the tail-coverts white, the centre of the feathers green ; tail and Jong ee ee ae k
white on the outer webs; entire underparts black, with rich green reflections 00 ae aan
bill horn-colour ; tarsi and feet lead-colour.
«© Female-—Brown, mottled with black ; rump white.
‘‘Hasrratr.—Moupin in Chinese Thibet (Dabry) 5 Llassa iN a
The figures represent the two sexes, about two thirds the size of Ite.

”

Thibet (J. J. Stone).

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CHALCOPHASIS SCLATERI.
Sclater’s Monaul.

Lophophorus Sclateri, Jerd. Ibis, 1870, p. 147.—Idem, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 1870, p. 61.—Sclat. Proc. of Zool.
Soc. 1870, p. 162, pl. xiv.—Elliot, Mon. of Phas., vol. i. pl. xx. :

(Chalcophasis) Sclateri, G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part ii. p. 261.

 

Ir is beyond the eastern extremity of our Indian ter

ritories that we must look for the present fine bird,
where it will doubtless be found in as great an

abundance as the Lophophorus Impeyanus and L. ? Huysi are
in their respective habitats. At present, however, as will be seen in the se

this species is all that has yet been discovered. This was brou
in the valley of Assam, where it was seen by the late Dr.

quel, a single example of
ght down from the hills to a country fair

Jerdon, who at once perceived that, although in a
very indifferent state of plumage, it was an object of great interest and value.

‘safely conveyed to Calcutta, and afterwards to England, where it lived

From Assam it was
and moulted more than once, in the
gardens of the Zoological Society, and where the Fellows and their friends and thousands of visitors had an
opportunity of seeing this fine object in a living state. Ornithologists noted that it was very peculiar in its
actions and economy, and were at a loss to know why a bird of such moping habits, and of such a heavy and
inelegant gait, should have been clothed in so resplendent a dress; yet such is the case, and I quite agree
with Mr. Elliot’s view when he assigned it a separate distinctive generic title; for it certainly does not
assimilate to the Lophophor?, whose movements are at once sprightly and attractive.

Time, and time alone, can unfold to us a correct account of this remarkable bird, as it has done of many
other of nature’s manifold wonders.

Although, as will be seen, Mr. Elliot subsequently changed its generic appellation, he commences his
account of the bird by saying :—‘* This constitutes the third species of the genus Lophophorus, which is distin-
guished by comprising the most brilliantly coloured of the Phasianide. Sclater’s Monaul, however, is not so
handsome as either of the other two species, being destitute of the greater portion of the metallic hues which
cause its relatives to be such attractive objects. The only specimen known, which is now living in the gar-
dens of the Zoological Society of London, was obtained in Upper Assam, described by Dr. Jerdon, and
forwarded by him to the Society.

“T am favoured by Dr. Jerdon with the following short account of the species, which comprises all oe
is known regarding it. ‘At Suddya, our frontier station at the head of the valley of Asa a Nuala, or ie
is held annually in February, to which most of the hill tribes come and are entertained by the Deputy Com-
missioners of the district at the expense of the Government, and get presents of rum, opium, salt, tobacco,
&e. A living specimen of the Ceriornis Blythii was brought down and given to the Deputy Coe
Major Stewart whilst I was with him, by some of the Mishmi tribes. At the aoe time and place Major
Steward also received one living specimen of the Lophophorus Sclateri. i was In very pad plumage ; and
though I saw at once it was a distinct species, I could not then describe it. He brought it to seme and
gave it to Major Montagu. It moulted when in the possession of that gentleman. I wes a oe -
describe it briefly in ‘The Ibis.’ I persuaded Major Montagu to allow me to forward Me i‘ Lis ee t i
Zoological Society. I took charge of it in November, brought it safely to Calcutta, a ay a )
my own to look after it and the specimen of Ceriornis Blythii until they were put on d : ae e
were very tame, and fed readily from the hand. They were particularly fond of the leaves of lettuce anc
cabbage ; I fed them with rice and a

‘«¢ Sclater’s Monaul cannot be said to be very gracetul: oe
the a 7 also large for the size of the bird, causing it to present a ee ae oe a
different from the game-like heads of the other members of this family, an a a ue es s

: : -essino the lengthened crest which is so characteristic and so elegant an
ust Gh a, ee é lso from the peculiar bronze hue of the back, I have
ease foe otter o cae ae oe ae oe ae the appellation of Chalcophasis, or
deemed it best to include this one in a separe g
Bronze Pheasant. : cs, throat, and entire underparts

“Top of the head covered by a short recurved See one ae a lower part; back and a
deep velvety black; back of the pel red eee Sen bronze; primaries brownish black ; rump
metallic green, with blue and purple reflections ; : ae = : f the eae upper. tail-coverts white ;
white, with narrow black lines running ee aoe ie ce covered with spots of black hair-like
tail deep chestnut, tipped with white; bare skin of the face deep :

feathers ; legs and feet brown ; bill greenish horn-colour.
The front figure is about two thirds of the natural size.

the body is thick and heavy, and the legs short ;

 
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GALLUS SONNERATI,

(Sonnerat’s J ungle-fowl.)

Coq sauvage des Indes, Sonn. Voy. Ind. ii. p. 153, pl. xciv. (1782),

Poule sauvage des Indes, id. t. c. p- 160, pl. xev. (1782).

Wild Cock, Lath. Gen. Synopsis, ii. pt. ii. p. 698 (1783).

Phasianus gallus, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 737. no. 1 (1788).—Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 625 (1790)

Gallus sonnerati, Temm. Pigeons et Gallin. iii. p- 659 (1815).—Id. Pl. Col. v. an 232, 233 (1825) G G
B. ii. p. 499 (1845).—Blyth, Ann. Nat. Hist. xx. p. 389 (1847).—Blyth, Cat. B. Mus AS By ‘ae
(1849).—Burgess, P.Z.S. 1855, p. 29.—Bp. Comptes Rend. 1856, p. 879.—Sace Rew as a de
Zool. 1862, p. 11, pl. ilii—Sclater, P. Z. 8. 1863, p. 122.—Gray, List Galline Brit. nich 39 (1863).

aor Birds of India, iii. p. 539 (1864).-—Elliot, Monogr. Phasianide, ii. pl. xxxiv. (1872).
Phasianus indicus, Leach, Zool. Mise. ii. p. 6, pl. 61 (1815).

 

AuruoueHu this bird has been known to science for so many years, our information respecting it cannot be
called extensive ; and the notes which Mr. Elliot published in his ‘Monograph’ still contain nearly the
whole of it. I therefore transcribe from his book the following observations :—“ This, the handsomest
of the Jungle-fowl, is found in the southern part of India; and by the singular spots upon the hackles,
as though yellow sealing-wax had been dropped upon them, it is easily distinguished from all the other
members of the genus. For a description of its habitat, as well as some interesting remarks on its mode
of living, I quote from Jerdon:—‘ This handsome Jungle-fowl is found in Southern India only, extending
on the east coast to a little north of Godavery, in Central India, to the Pachmarri or Mahadeo hills, north
of Nagpore, and on the west coast to the Rajpeehla hills, where it meets the Red Jungle-fowl. Its
occurrence on the Pachmarri hills is most probably its eastern extension from the Western Ghats and the
Rajpeehla hills; and it will probably be found all along the Sathpoora range. I do not know of its
occurrence east of the Mahadeo hills, till the neighbourhood of the lower part of the Godavery is reached.
It is very abundant on the Malabar coast, especially in the more elevated districts, as in the Wynaad, and it
ascends to the summit of the Neilgherries ; it is also common in suitable localities on the Eastern Ghats,
and in the various ranges in the south of India. It is not rare in the Naggery Hills, near Madras, and
is constantly brought for sale to the Madras market.

“<‘Like Gallus ferrugineus it is particularly partial to bamboo jungles. Early in the morning, through-
out the Malabar coast, the Wynaad, &c., Jungle-fowl may always be found feeding on the roads; and
with dogs you are certain of getting several shots on the roadside, the birds perching at once on being
put up by dogs. In some districts where they can be beaten out of the woods, and especially on the
Neilgherries, very pretty shooting is to be had at this Jungle-cock, the sharply defined woods (or sholas, as
they are called) being well adapted to being beaten for game. The hen lays from February to May,
generally having from seven to eight eggs of a pinky cream-colour, under a bamboo clump. ‘The call of
the cock is very peculiar, being a broken and imperfect kind of crow, quite unlike that of a Red Jungle-
cock, and impossible to describe.’ a

‘¢Mr. Blanford, in a communication to the Journal of the Asiatic Society upon the geographical distri-
bution of the Red and Sonnerat Jungle-fowls, says:—‘I regret very much having been the eee of
misleading Dr. Jerdon as to the distribution of the Red Jungle-fowl. I had been told by two different
observers that they had seen and shot Jungle-fowl, exactly like the common Barndoor-fowl, in and a s
Rajpihla hills; and a third had assured me that he had seen specimens of two different kinds from the
I have now been through the Rajpihla_ hills, and the ee Satpooras pace
thoroughly, and I am convinced that the only Jungle-fowl inhabiting those ranges 1s ee ee be
species is also found north of the Nerbudda, in the jungles east of Baroda, around Chota : ae v5 z
Meira? extends to the north and north-west I cannot say. It 1s not improbably (OO ea ae

: = he Satpoora hills, north of Kandesh,
Aruyelli range, and perhaps Mount Aboo. It occurs throughout t i tit in the jungles just east
and, indeed, throughout the Taptee valley. Further south I have recently shot 1t in a

; ar n Lieut. J. Forsyth
of Chanda. Jerdon mentions its occurrence at Pachmurri, where, Lee I learn a a ae
Lieut. Forsyth adds that the two kinds of Jungle-fowl meet on ple

same neighbourhood.

that G. ferrugineus also occurs.
° = 99?
at Pachmurri, and he has shot both there.

 
 

The following is Mr. Elliot’s description of the bird :-—

“‘The male has the back part of the head covered with short black feather
at the ends into a kind of spatule. The hackles are very long, covering the entire neck, black, covered at
regular intervals with white spots, and tipped with a yellowish spot, the end of the feather being formed of a
singularly brittle substance, resembling a fine shaving in texture. The upper parts are blackish brown,
edges of the feathers grey, and the shafts white. The upper tail-coverts like the back, the feathers long

and lanceolate in shape, spotted with buff near the end, and margined with chestnut near the tip. Under-
white, and the centres and margins greyish white; some of the flank-feathers

Primaries dark brown, as are also the secondaries ; a large patch

s, the shafts white, widening

parts black, shafts of feathers
have the terminal margins chestnut.
upon the wing, the feathers of which have their centres white, terminating in red, and formed of the same
brittle substance as the ends of the hackles, making a very conspicuous and ornamental spot. The comb is
small, serrated at the edge, and, together with the naked skin of the face and throat and also the wattles, is
red. Upper tail-coverts and tail blue, with green reflections, the two central tail-feathers being very long
and curving downwards. The feet and tarsi are flesh-colour; bill horn-colour.

“The female has the top of the head light brown ; neck light brown, shafts white, and margins black.
Rest of upper surface rufous brown, mottled with black ; shafts white. Breast and flanks white, margins

of the feathers black. Abdomen white ; tail dark brown, mottled near the edges with rufous brown. Small

extent of bare skin around the eyes red. Bill yellowish; feet and tarsi flesh-colour.”

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SYPHEOTIDES AURITUS.

Lesser Florikin.

Otis aurita, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 660.—Less. in Belanger’s Voy. aux Ind. Orient 278; Atl |
pl. 10.—Jard. and Selb. Il. Orn., vol. i. pl. 40, and vol. ii. pl. 92.—Jerd Ill Ind io ‘ Bilis
— fulva, Sykes, in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part ii. 1832 | 155 a al
— marmorata, Hardw. and Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool., p. 60. poet
Eupodotis aurita, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii, Pp. 533 ; Hupodotis, sp. 18.
Sypheotides auritus, Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit.
Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 259.—Jerd. Birds of I
Passarage Bustard, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., p. 228.—Id. Gen. H
Charaz or Charas, Hindoos in the South of India. Chulla-charz
in Hindoostan.

Mus., part iii. p. 57.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in
ndia, vol. ii. part ii. p- 619.

ist., vol. viil. p. 365.

» Hindoos of some parts of India. Likh, Hindoos

Tan-mor of the Mahrattas. Kan-noul, Canarese. Niala mmili, Telinga. All three names signify Ground Peafowl
Wurragu Koh, Tamool. =

Khartitar of the Bheels near Mhow, 2. e., Grass Partridge, vulgo Ghas Ka murghi or Grass-fowl. (Jerdon. )

 

How profusely ornamented are the males of most, if not all, the members of the Otidide, or family of
Bustards !—some being adorned with a lengthened crest, others with plumes on the neck or springing
from the ears, and others, again, being distinguished by some peculiar coloration of the body. In every
case, I believe, these adornments are seasonal, and only retained during the period of reproduction ; for
_ their assumption by the male is always accompanied by demonstrations of love for the female. In no
instance, perhaps, is ornamentation more singularly displayed than in the species here represented—one of
the smallest members of its family; curiously enough, also, in this instance the male is smaller than the
female, a circumstance which combined with the difference in its colouring during the breeding-season, has
sadly puzzled many of the travellers and residents in India, by whom the bird has been considered as two
distinct species. But Mr. Jerdon has satisfactorily proved, both in his ‘Illustrations of Indian Ornithology ’
and in his ‘ Birds of India,’ that the Common and Black Florikin, as it is called in that country, are one and
the same species. His reasons for believing them to be identical are :—

“Ist. All Black Florikins hitherto examined have been male birds.

“2ndly. The Black Florikin agrees exactly in size and comparative dimensions with the male of the
Common Florikin, but more especially in the length of wing and in the acumination of the primary quills,
the essential point of difference from the female.

“3rdly. Some black feathers are in general to be found on every cock-bird, not, however, always
noticeable till the feathers of the abdomen are pulled aside; and this mottling varies from a feather or two
to so many that the specimen would be considered by sportsmen a Black Florikin.

«Athly. I have watched the progressive change in birds at Jalnah, where a Ae couple always remain
and breed, from the garb of the female to the perfect Black Florikin, and back again from this, the nuptial
plumage, to the more sober livery of the rest of the year.

“Sthly. I have seen more than one specimen of the cock-bird in the grey plumage which, from some
cause or other, had not as usual dropped the long ear-feathers ; but these had, in conformity with the change
in the system causing this alteration of plumage, become white. | ee :

“ These reasons will, I trust, be sufficient to convince the most sceptical of the identity of the oooamo
and Black Florikin. Other testimony might be brought forward in support, but I shall cite only chat of
« Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ who, from observations
in Guzerat, where they appear very numerous, states it as his pone te ey as the cane ne but that
the Black one is only met with in Guzerat during the monsoon, which is the bree ee -

“The Leek or Lesser Florikin,” continues Mr. Jerdon, “is found throughout India, from near the base

: re sant districts, but has not, I believe, been seen in Ceylon. It is more rare
of the Himalayas to the southernmost di , = lécié mostnabtindandaan (@enmalena
in Northern India and Bengal, but has been killed er in Arrakan. herichieedinen te an
Western India during the rains, and in Southern India in the cold weather ; | | ae
5 Pee ee ‘e chiefly been seen in the hot weather or commenceme
in Bengal and the neighbouring districts have ¢ i i 4 nowmof ates havical ou een te
rains. I saw it on the banks of the Ganges in April and oe . co Reeth it incl
killed in Purneah in May and June. In the Carnatic, eee oc ae vothcnetaarie denen
found in the cold weather, from October to pee a f Malwah and Indore, and the southernmost
Central India and Western India, Guzerat, Oe beeen ve ae The few that I saw in Saugor
portion of Rajpootana chiefly during the rains, from June to Se}

Lieut. Foljambes, in a brief paper in the

 
Ly oe

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and the neighbourmg country occurred during the hot weather, at which time they leave the dried-up
‘districts of Southern India and migrate north in search of suitable shelter and food. As one part of the
eastern portion of Central India, from the Godavery to Midnapore and Coos Nagpore, consists more or less
of forest and jungles, the majority are drawn westward into Malwah, Rajpootana, and eT Few occur
in Malabar, but in Southern Canara there is at least one locality where they may be found in cold weather.

“The Lesser Florikin frequents long grass in preference to any other shelter; it is, however, often to be
met with in grain-fields, in fields of cotton and dholl, and in the Carnatic so much in those al the grain
called Warragoo, as to be called in Tamool Warragoo kolee, or Warragoo Fowl. It feeds chiefly in the
morning, and is then easily raised; but during the heat of the day it lies very close, and is often flushed with
difficulty. I have known an instance of one being killed by a horse stepping on it. Now and then an
exceedingly wary one is met with, which runs to a great distance and takes wing well out of shot. When
walking or running it raises its tail, the central feathers being those most elevated, while the lateral ones
diverge downwards, as in domestic fowls, &c. The chief food of the Florikin is grasshoppers, but I have
also found blister-beetles (Mylabris), Scarabe7, centipedes, and even small lizards in the stomachs of those I
have examined. When flushed suddenly it utters a kind of sharp “quirk” or note of alarm, and it is said
also to emit a feeble plaintive chirp or piping note when running or feeding. Its flesh 1s very delicate and
of excellent flavour, and in India is the most esteemed of all the game birds. Its pursuit is consequently a
favourite sport, and, from the open nature of the ground it frequents, it is well adapted for being hawked. I
have killed it occasionally with the Lugger (Kalco jugyer), but generally with the Shaheen (Kalco peregri-
nator). Should the latter miss her first stoop, I have known the Florikin accelerate its speed so greatly
that the Falcon was unable to come up with it again under 600 yards or more. I have seen one struck
dead by the Wokhab (Aquila vindhiana) ; J have slipped a Luger at it, which was in hot pursuit, though at
some little distance behind, when two of these Eagles came down from a vast height and joined in the
chase. One of them made a headlong swoop at it, which the Florikin most skilfully avoided, only, however,
to fall a victim to the talons of the other, which stooped almost immediately after its confederate, and
dashed the poor bird lifeless to the ground. It had not, however, time to pick it up, for [ rode up, and the
Eagles soared off most unwillingly, and circled in the air above me for a length of time. The Florikin had
its back laid open the whole length.

‘<A few appear to breed in all parts of Southern India from July to November, for I have put the hen-
bird off her nest in August in the Deccan, and in October near Trinchinopoly ; and have heard of the hen
incubating still later, up to January indeed; but the majority breed, in Guzerat, Malwah, and Southern
Rajpootana, from July to September. I have found the cock-bird commencing the assumption of the black
plumage at the end of April, and have killed examples with the black ear-tuft just beginning to sprout, but
with hardly any other black feathers appearing. In other instances I have noticed that the ear-tufts did not
make their appearance until the bird was quite mottled with black. The full breeding-plumage is generally
completed during July and August, at which season the male bird generally takes up a position on some
rismg ground, from which it wanders but little, for many days even; and during the morning especially, but
in cloudy weather at all times of the day, every now and then rises a few feet perpendicularly into the air,
uttering at the same time a peculiar low croaking call, more like that of a frog or cricket than that of a
bird, and then drops down again. This is probably intended to attract the females, who before their eggs
are laid, wander greatly ; or perhaps to summon a rival cock, for I have seen two in such desperate fight as
to allow me to approach within thirty yards before they ceased their battle. The female lays her eggs in
some thick patch of grass; they are four or five in number, of a dark olive colour, with or without a few
darker blotches, of a very thick stunted, ovoid form, very obtuse at the larger end. During this season the
females are very shy or wary, seldom rising, though often running great distances; and when closely
approached and unable to run further, perhaps without being seen, squatting so close as to allow a man or
dog almost to tread on them before they take flight.”

The male during the breeding-season has the head, neck, ear-tufts, middle wing-coverts, and under surface
black ; chin, lower part of the neck behind, and a large patch on the wing white; remainder of the plumage
light brown, beautifully mottled with dark brown; three outer primaries dull brown, the remainder barred
and mottled with dark brown; irides pale yellow, clouded with dusky; bill dark brown above, the edges of
the upper and the lower mandible yellowish.

The female is fulvous yellow, with the head, back, wings, and tail clouded and barred with deep brown ;
on the front, at the neck, two irregular brownish streaks; chin and throat white; under surface dull white ;
bill, legs, and irides as in the male.

The Plate represents the two sexes about the natural size.

 
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OTIS MACQUEENL Hardw. and Gray.

MacQueen’s Bustard.

Otis Macqueent, Hardw. and Gray’s Ill. Ind. Zool., vol. ii. pl. 47.—Gould in Proc. York Phi

Houbara Macqueenii, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part ILI. p. 57 one ae
p- 786.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Oe re

Eupodotis Macqueeni, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p- 533 a on

Oiis tetrax, Rob. in Zoologist, vol. vi. p. 1969. ree

— Houbara, Rob. in Ib., vol. vi. p. 2065.

Soc., vol. i. p. 94.
Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi.

 

Every Eapiimologist is acquainted with the Otis Houbara, while few collections are adorned with examples
of the species forming the subject of the present memoir; the great strongholds of which are the western
parts of Asia, particularly the countries of Beloochistan and Cabul, whence its range extends northwards
over the Plains of Tartary and westwards over those of Persia and Arabia, in which latter country it
inosculates with the true Otis Houbara, both species being there found. The interest which attaches to
this bird is greatly enhanced, by its being now added both to the list of European species, and
to the Fauna of our own island; a fine specimen, in the Museum of the Philosophical Society at York,
having been shot by Mr. G. Hansley in a stubble-field on Kirton Cliff, Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire, on
the 7th of October 1847, and another example killed on the 13th of December 1845, on the plain between
Woluwe St. Etienne and Dieghem, a league from Brussels. This latter specimen, a fine adult male, is now
in the Museum of Natural History at Brussels. The Vicomte DuBus, who furnished me with this informa-
tion, also informed me that he ate part of the body, and that it equaled in every respect the character
given by Latham and others of the flesh of the Houbara, which they say is of the highest flavour.

Captain Hutton states that the Ovs Macqueent is common and remains all the year on the bare
stony plains of Afghanistaun, where it is sometimes to be seen in small packs of five or six together.
It flies heavily and for short distances, soon alighting and running. Mr. Blyth says, that accord-
ing to a writer in the Bengal Sporting Magazine, it frequents dry sandy plains where there is a little
grass, and is also found in grain and wheat fields. _ Its flesh, which is exceedingly tender, is so covered with
fat that the skins are with difficulty dried and preserved. Capt. Boys, during the many years he had
collected in the upper provinces, never obtained more than one specimen, which was procured at Hansi in
December ; but in Scinde it is tolerably numerous.

The specific distinctions of the Otis Macqueeni as compared with O. Houbara are slight, but the fine black-
tipped crest-feathers, grey neck, lighter colouring of the upper surface, which is also much less strongly
marked with brown, together with its smaller size, are characters by which it may at all times be distin-
guished from the latter species. The specimen killed in Lincolnshire appears to be a female in the post-
nuptial dress ; its craw was filled with caterpillars of the Common Yellow Underwing Moth, small shelled
snails, beetles, &c. .

Forehead, sides of the head, upper part of the back of the neck, buff penciled with black ; crest-feathers
white at the base and black for the remainder of their length ; nape and base of the neck whitish ; on the
sides of the neck a series of plumes gradually increasing in length, the upper two-thirds of which are black ;
of the remainder some are white, others black, and others white at the base, and black for their apical half;
upper surface isabella-brown or sandy buff, minutely penciled wi
breadth and intensity here and there so as to form irregular bars across the feathets; these darker markings
becoming larger and more conspicuous as they proceed posteriorly ; rump Cae these Gees nee
upper tail-coverts and tail similarly marked and crossed by bands as grey, which increase in size oe t e
tip; the tail is moreover washed with rufous and terminated with buffy white ; ead on ee
penciled with black ; first five primaries white at the base, and black for the ae er 4 t a Bee
the remainder of the primaries and secondaries black, with a transverse mark a D 4 at : a oe
shite; neck and breast light grey; under surface of the wing and abdomt) aie, Ce
and under tail-coverts white, penciled and barred with blackish brown; irides yellow; DiS wa ys

except at the base, which is yellowish ; legs greenish yellow.
The figures are about two-thirds of the natural size, repres

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TANTALUS LEUCOCEPHALUS.
Rosy Tantalus.

Tantalus leucocephalus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 649.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 7
Indic., p. 20, pl. 10.—Penn. Ind. Zool., p. 47.—Temm. Man. One ae ae
Vieill. Ency. Méth., Oinis part ii. p. 1151, pl. 56. fig.
of Zool. Soc., part ii, p. 160.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in
ot Lit. and Sci., vol. xii, p. 202.—Kelaart, Prod. Faun. Zeyl., p. 133.—Gray, List of Spec. of
Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part ili. p. 90.—Bonap. Tab. Syn. des Hérons, in Camneriaa de Ata
des Sci., Avril 2, 1855, tom. xl.—Burgess in Proc. Zool. Soc., part xxiii, p. 72.—Layard in Ann iad

| Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser. vol. xiv. p. 115.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. ii. p. 150.—Shaw Ga

Zool., vol. xii. part i. p. 2.—Tytler in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser. vol. iii. p. 374. ;

—_.—. Gangeticus, Shaw, Nat. Mise., pl. 293.

White-headed Ibis, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 116.—Id. Supp. p. 240.—Penn. Ind. Zool. 4to, pl. xi.—Id. Hind., vol
pe 2125 vol.it. p. 158.—Id. Outl., vol. iv. p. 128.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p- 160.

Tantalus Indicus, Cuvier, Regn. Anim., tom. i. p. 481 (Blyth).

Dokh of the Hindoos.

Jaunghal in Hindustan (Jerdon).

Kdt Sdrunga of the Hindoos (Blyth).

Lamyang and Lumduck of the Scindees.

Datudua, Cing., lit. Sickle-bill (Layard).

Changa vella nary, Mal. Nary is the general Tamul name for all Storks (Layard).

st. Zool.
2nd edit. tom. i. p. ciii.—Bonn, et
1.—Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr.
Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 275.—Jerd. Madras

 

ete

 

4 Tur subject of the present memoir—the Great Indian Tantalus—stands out so conspicuously among: the
Grallatores, or Wading Birds, that it may fairly be considered one of the most elegant and beautiful birds of
its order. It is fully equal to a Stork in size, being about three feet in height; and although by no means
! common in our collections, it has been long known to ornithologists. In the early work of Pennant it is not
only described, but tolerably well figured ; while Latham, Shaw, and all subsequent writers have included it
in their general histories. Its range of habitat is very great, extending over the whole of the warmer,
lacustrine, and flatter portions of the Indian Peninsula.

The ancient and extensive tanks, forming one of the many evidences of India’s former greatness, now
' (particularly in Ceylon) the constant resorts of Crocodiles, and the nightly rendezvous of the huge Elephant,
are also situations frequented by the Rosy Tantalus. After repeating that India generally, including Ceylon,
Assam, and Aracan, is inhabited by the bird, I may add that the fine specimen from which my figure was
taken was sent to London by M. Mouhdt, from Siam. From the meagre accounts which have reached us
, respecting its habits and economy, we may gather enough to be assured that it is one of the most useful, as
well as one of the most beautiful, of Indian birds. The number of lizards and other reptiles it daily devours
appears to be enormous; hence, as is always the case, Dati ua placed the right bird in the right rede:
| and in no other country, probably, will it ever thrive or be acclimatized, whatever may be the efforts of Societies

 

expressly formed for such a purpose. :
I shall now give in detail the few notes that have been recorded by Indian officers respecting this species.
“The Pelican [bis (as it may be termed),” says Dr. Jerdon, “is common all over India, frequenting rivers,
tanks, pools, and marshes, generally in parties more or less numerous, and feeding on fish, frogs, and aquatic
S95 ’ :

insects, and also, according to Sykes, on vegetable matter. It perches freely and breeds on lofty trees

é é n standing motionless
during the hot weather and monsoon. During the heat of the day, they may be ee eee e ! :
. ° ° 5 ar eo y ‘ o a during’ 1e nioh é
in the water, knee-deep, digesting their morning’s meal: they are said to feed a goo lei g | g
osy tinge during the hot weather, or breeding-season.

ryy : Bs a es e
The scapulars assume their most beautiful t Be
ee ’ says Lieut. Burgess, “is a common bird in the Deccan,

5 ‘
“The Pelican Ibis, as it is called by Dr. Jerdon, =
eeding ieve, chi n fish.
frequenting rivers and tanks, and feeding, I believe, chiefly o > pene
yarticularly during the breeding-season, when the back and scapularies atta
i * : : he natives of a village close to a tank frequented by them,
ee lace tae wben é fish in tl Sar they walk in the shallow water in
i ing-plac hat when they fish im the 3
and near to one of their breeding-places, t | ee
illag ten miles from the Godavery River,

ivi ; 2 another village, about
a line, driving the fish before them. In % ¢ gee ee ai

i ; walls ound a communi

there are a great number of large banian trees both outside and inside the walls, y
Cc Cc

its large size renders it remarkable,

 

 

 
these birds which had built their nests on them, probably to the number of fifty. The trees inside the walls
were as thickly covered with nests as those outside; and the birds, which appeared docile and oe did not
mind the noise of the people passing beneath them. When I visited the village, the es birds were all
well fledged, and most of them able to fly. The villagers informed me inal the old birds move all to the
river in the very early dawn, and, having caught a sufficient supply for their young, a about eight or
nine o’clock ; a second expedition is made during the afternoon. Some idea of the quantity of fish caught
by these birds may be gathered from what the people told me, that quantities a! fine — were dropped by
the old birds when feeding their young, and were eaten by them. A young bird of this species, which I
shot in Scinde, disgorged a large quantity of small eels. This Ibis breeds during the month of February.
The nest is composed of small sticks, and is placed at the top of the trees ; if there are many on the same
tree, they are placed pretty close together. They lay three or four eggs, of a dull opaque white, nearly
2-* inches in length, by rather more than 1-5 inch in width. ‘The young birds are able to fly by the month
of May. I kept a young bird, which had dropped from the nest and broken its wing, in my garden for three
or four months. It was most gentle and quiet, occasionally snapping its strong beak at any person it did
not like. In a short time it recognized the person who fed it; and whenever he made his appearance, it
would walk towards him, uttering a piteous cry, flapping its long wings, and bowing its head towards him.
It was a most ludicrous sight, which many came to see. It was fed on fresh fish, and would not touch any
that were at all tainted. Another young bird which I also kept would devour the bodies of birds brought
in for stuffing, and did not appear at all particular as to the quality of its food. The stomach of an old
bird contained a grassy substance, the remains of fish, and what appeared to be the claw of a small crab.”

Colonel Sykes states that the stomachs of three specimens dissected by him were distended with fibrous
vegetable matters in a comminuted state. A fourth contained the same kind of vegetable matters and the
half of a carp, nine inches long.

Latham informs us that this bird is very common on the River Ganges, and that in some parts of India it
is called the Smaller Adjutant; and he adds that the pink feathers are not unfrequently used as ornaments
by the ladies, like those of the Ostrich.

Feathers clothing the neck, breast, and back silky white; upper tail-coverts silky white, suffused with pale
rose-colour, deepening into a crescentic form near the tip of each feather; lesser wing-coverts deep olive-
green, broadly tipped with dull white; greater coverts dull white; upper portion of the scapularies silky
white, suffused in the centre with delicate rose-pink; primaries and secondaries deep green; tertiaries
lengthened, and of a lovely rose-pink, which deepens into carmine near the end of each feather, the tip
being occupied by a broad, decided crescent of silky white; tail very deep green; across the abdomen a
broad band of olive-brown, barred with white, each feather being broadly tipped with that hue; the under
wing-coverts are also olive, largely tipped with silky white ; lower part of the abdomen, thighs, and under
tail-coverts white, slightly suffused with pink; irides yellowish brown ; bill, naked part of the face and
crown, and the chin-pouch yellowish orange; legs pale dirty pink. Colonel Sykes states that there is
‘‘a large diaphanous spot on each side of the base of the upper mandible before the eyes ;” this, however,
is not perceptible in the dried skin, and hence it has not been noticed.

In the immature state the general colouring is very similar, but the white tips of the abdominal-band
feathers and those of the under surface of the wing are more conspicuous, and the neck is clothed with down.

The following is Lieut. Burgess’s “ Description of a young bird taken on the 20th of April :—Beak dark
leaden brown, becoming still darker at the base; skin of the face and forehead of the same hue; feathers
of the head brownish grey; those on the neck of an ashy brown, mixed with down; shoulders ashy, with
light-brown edges; scapularies similar, but edged with a much lighter ashy hue, the centre of the feathers
being the darkest ; lesser wing-coverts brownish black, tinged with ashy, and with light ashy edges; greater
wing-coverts dark-greyish black, their outer webs tipped with whitish ash-colour, and inner webs tinged
with the same colour on their edges ; tertiaries similar, but tinged with rose-colour ; primaries and secondaries
black, with green reflexions; back beautiful pale rose-colour ; upper tail-coverts dusky grey; tail black, with
bright-green reflexions ; breast, belly, and sides covered with beautiful white down, interspersed on the breast
with some dark and grey feathers, and on the sides with white, tinged with delicate rose-colour; the whole
of the back is also covered with beautiful down. This bird was evidently a nestling, the first feathers having
scarcely grown enough to cover the body.”

The figure is about half the natural size.

 
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NUMENIUS RUFESCENS, cou,
Rufescent Curlew.

Numenius rufescens, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 286.—Swinh. in Ibis, 1863 p. 410

 

Wuen the ornithologist meets wi Cj . : ae . : :
} g swith a species presenting such marked differences from its allies as those

which exist in the present bird. h ‘ Sanh a ee : : :
| ee has no alternative but to assign to it a specific appellation. In size and
general contour, the Numenius rufescens is very similar to our well-known Curlew XV. ar

quatus, but is still
more nearly allied to the NV. australis; from the former

it is distinguished by the spotting of its rump-
les of the genus by its rufous colouring. In the
entire course of my ornithological studies, I have never seen any other bird of this form similarly coloured,
or so strongly streaked on the rump; and I have much pleasure in including a figure of this new and sin-
gular species in the ‘ Birds of Asia.’

feathers, and from the latter and every other known spec

The following interesting notes respecting it are from the pen of Mr. Swinhoe :—

“The single specimen I procured of this very rufescent Curlew was shot on the sand-flat that divides the
Tamsuy River near its mouth. It had for some days been observed, in company with its mate, passing to
and returning from its feeding-ground ; and my attention was drawn to it by the peculiar character of its long-
drawn cry, being very different from that of the large species which visits those shores during the winter,
and resembling the melancholy whistle of the Grey Plover. On dissection, this bird proved to be a female,
with large, well-developed eges in the oviduct, evidently within a few days of maturity, proving that its nesting-
site could not have been far distant. From the developed state of the eggs and the late season of the year,
I have little doubt of its being a resident species. It differs from the Mumenius major of Japan, but agrees
with WV. australis of Australia (of which latter I procured examples on the Peiho flats, near Peking), in having
a striated rump; but it is much more rufescent than that bird, and we cannot do otherwise than regard it as
a well-defined species, closely allied to the Australian Curlew. If it be a good species (and I am inclined to
think it is), it strikes me as rather strange that two species of true Numenius should be indigenous to the
same semitropical island,—the smaller species, or Whimbrel, ranging over the southern portion, and the
present species over the northern. On comparing my bird with a specimen of V. australis in Mr. Gould’s
collection, I observe that it has much thinner and fewer black streaks on the neck and breast.”

Head, neck, upper and under surface reddish fawn-colour, deepest and most conspicuous on the rump
and tail-feathers; down the centre of each feather a streak of blackish brown, broadest and most con
spicuous on the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; primaries blackish brown, strongly tootlted on their
inner margins with greyish white; tail-feathers irregularly crossed with blackish brown; thighs light buff;
‘bill blackish olive, tinted with flesh-colour, darker on the apical half; basal half of the lovey mandible
light flesh-colour, tinged with ochre; inside of the mouth flesh-colour ; san round the eye Cae brown ;
irides deep chocolate-brown ; legs leaden grey, becoming black on the joints, webs, and sides of the toes ;
claws blackish brown, with ochreous edges.” (Swinhoe.)

The figure is rather less than the natural size.

 
 
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IBIDORHYNCHA STRUTHERSIL Vig.

Red-billed Krolia.

Ibidorhyncha Struthersii, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr.
of Birds, pl. lxxix.
Red-billed Erolia, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vol. iy. p. 458.
or Gorgeted Chlorhynx, Hodgs. Ib. pl. liv. low. fig.
Chlorhynchus Strophiatus, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vol. iv. p. 701.

Ibidorhynchus Struthersii, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 568.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat Soc
Calcutta, p. 265. ; 5 . :

of Zool. Soe. part i. p. 174.—Gould, Century

 

Tue present curious bird was one of the novelties I had the good fortune to make known to science in my
“Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains,” on reference to which it will be found that I therein
remarked, that ‘throughout the whole of our new discoveries in the vast district which has furnished the
subject of the present work, it would be difficult to point out a more interesting species than that before
us, or one which has supplied ornithological science with characters more striking and peculiar; as it
forms a union between two groups generally considered as widely separated from each other; the body,
the general form and the legs of the [idorhyncha Struthersii being similar to those of the members of the
genus Hematopus, while the bill is strictly that of an Jbis. I was not so fortunate as to receive a specimen
of this bird; and it is to the kindness of Dr. Scouler, of the Andersonian Museum of Glasgow, who received
it from Mr. Struthers, the gentleman who collected it, and whose name forms its specific appellation, that
I was indebted for the opportunity of figuring it. Its habits and manners yet remain to be discovered and
recorded.”

It is very much to be regretted that even now, after a lapse of five-and-twenty years, no account has been
received of the habits and economy of this singular form. That its habitat is somewhat restricted is
rendered pretty certain from the unfrequent occurrence of specimens in Indian collections. The southern
slopes of the Himalayas from Nepaul to our western frontier are probably the only parts of the country it
frequents ; at least it is from there only that I have received examples.

Mr. Hodgson, writing in August 1835, says, ‘‘ The only specimen I have been able to procure was shot
on the banks of a sandy stream in the valley of Nepaul in October last ; and it was a mere passenger here,
like the majority of the grallatorial and natatorial birds which visit us, and which make only a stage of our
valley on their way from the plains of Tartary to those of India and back again.

“Weight ten ounces. The intestines are twenty inches long, larger above than below, tough, frequently
semi-convolved or doubled, siphon-wise, and at three inches from the anal end ey have two en oo nealy
two inches in length. The stomach is small, but very muscular and gizzard-like, and ee oe Oo ie
consists chiefly of minute univalve mollusca which it picks up on thesoney margins of rivers and streams.
In such sites it is usually found; nor does it appear to be gregarious. ; «he chee eee

Considerable difference is observable in the breadth of the black band which crosses the chest; as also in

. : sale i in certain individuals, is reddish
the colouring ef the face, which in some specimens is greyish ; the bill too, in certain ind ;

: ( hus characterized may probably be females or young
horn-colour instead of bright coral-red; the examples thus character yp y
male birds which have not yet assumed their full plumage.

oa separ i he black of the
Forehead top of the head, lores and throat black ; neck pale cmereous, separated ae a
back and wings ashy grey; across the breast, extending

a conspicuous streak of white ; =
Meee tice by a conspic h and the grey of the neck is a narrower band of

upwards towards the back, a band of black, between whic Fe black putea etme
white ; under surface white ; tail grey, irregularly barred with brownis 3 iicer are alah ae

2 c G e ., als ; ’
white regularly barred with brownish black ; these feathers and the next two or thr I

brownish black ; bill coral-red ; feet red.

: eee ; in the distance.
The Plate represents the bird of the natural size, with a smaller figure in

 
 
 

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PLUVIANUS MGYPTIUS.
Zic-zac.

Charadrius Atgyptius, Linn. Syst. N
p. 204, 9a.
Alexandrinus, var. B. Atgyptius, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 6

————— melanocephalus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. pe 692, ioe
Africanus, Say. Desc. de Egypte, Ois., tab. 6. fig. 4, —

——_——— niger, Bodd. Kittl. Kupf. Vog., t. 4. cree

Pluvianus chlorocephalus, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist, N

at. 1 D
at., tom. 1. p. 254.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 744. —Id. Gen. Syn., vol. v.

 

a Te at., tom. xxvii, p. 130.
——— Asgpytis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds Uh, 10), SHG — i

ote S, vol. lil. p. 536, Loche, Cat. Mamm. et Ois. obs. en Algérie,
Cursor charadrioides, Wagl. Syst. Av. Cursor, sp. 6.

Ammoptila charadrioides, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 364

 

Tue story of the old Greek writer Herodotus about the Trochilos entering the mouth of the Crocodile is
well known to every classical scholar, and hence any remark on the subject is unnecessary ; hut I may state
that ornithologists are divided in opinion as to whether the bird intended was the present one or the Spur-
winged Plover (Hoplopterus spinosus), which is equally common on the banks of the Nile. The point is,
however, of little moment, since, in all probability, the story is not founded on truth, and, if it were, one
bird is just as likely to perform the office of teeth-cleaner to the Crocodile as the other. Recent research
having ascertained that the Pluvianus Afgyptius is found within the western boundary of the Asiatic con-
tinent, I embrace the opportunity of inserting in the present work a drawing which was intended as an
illustration of ‘an oft-told tale.”

The true habitat of the P. #gyptius is Africa, over the fluviatile portions of which it is dispersed from
Egypt and Algeria southwards to Angola. As I know nothing of the bird from personal observation, I
shall here transcribe the few meagre passages which have been published respecting it.

I commence with the following extract from Herodotus, which was sent to me by W. White Cooper, Esq.,
with the view of calling my attention to the subject.

“ Crycodile and Trochilos—A\l other birds and beasts avoid him; but he is at peace with the Trochilos,
because he receives benefit from that bird. For when the Crocodile gets out of the water on land and then
opens its jaws, which it does most commonly towards the west, the Trochilos enters its mouth and swallows
the leeches: the Crocodile is so well pleased with this service that it never hurts the Trochilos.”—AHerodotus,
Euterpe, chap. 68.

“To this species,” says Dr. Leith Adams, “as well as to the spur-winged Lapwing, the name of Zic-zac
who in bird-nomenclature, as in other subjects, evince no great accuracy or
apply the above name to the Black-headed

quently mistaken for the other, as this

The Black-headed Plover

is applied by the natives,
perception. It is not easy to see the reason why they should
Plover, unless that it frequents the same situations, and is conse
r in plumage nor voice any similarity to the Spurwing.
eeds about March; its flight is rapid, and call loud and piping, One series
boat and settles on the bank, resemble the

handsome bird has neithe
iS usually seen in pairs, and br
of notes, when alarmed, it utters on wing,
words chip-chip-hoit. It is not common above the

islands.” Speaking of the Hoplopterus spinosus, Dr. Adams says, appease (0 Seat
considering this species the Trochilos of Herodotus than the Pluvianus gyptius, ing oy

, historian is still current among the Egyptians, and with reference to t us ird,
o the Crocodile, is sometimes shut up within the jaws of

On such occasions the Zic-zac (so named from its
eshing the memory of the latter that his
ately, as if his reptilian majesty was
n good authority, as being very

as it wheels past your
First Cataract, owing to the absence of sand-banks and

«There appears to me better reason for

known narrative of the Greek
which they state, in its capacity of leech-catcher t
the animal when the latter falls asleep on a sand-b
s to the Crocodile’s mouth, by way of rel :
faithful henchman is within, when the monster’s jaws reopen ee oS
sorry for his obliviousness. This addition to the ou story ee en to n
generally believed among the Nile boatmen.”—"10s ee :
“In reply to your inquiry,” writes Mr. ae W an oe ae
feeding in the Crocodile’s mouth, and picking his teeth, to it ees ne
Crocodiles, sometimes with these birds nestlit ae cert eee
fare obtained from the Crocodile’s ee > eee ee
to having shot, 1 ¢

ank.

call) applies bis spur

ate that I believe the story of the Zic-zac
I have seen upwards of a hundred

ler him and, moreover, the
i under 5
end be exceedingly meagre,
i ould find nothing adhering
several I must plead guilty

 
were perfectly clean, as was the case also with regard to a still larger one, fourteen feet long, which I had
an opportunity of examining ; nor could I discover any of the leeches and other parasites said to exist there.”

Mr. Cavendish Taylor says, “I did not see this pretty species” (the Pluvianus Agyptius) “below Cairo ;
but above I found it everywhere numerous. This is the bird which enjoys the credit of being the Trochilos
of Herodotus, and as a matter of fact, I may state that I seldom saw a Crocodile on land without seeing
a Pluvianus Agyptius near him.”—‘ Ibis,’ 1859, p- 02.

The Rey. H. B. Tristram informs us that this bird was shot by the Rev. Ridley H. Herschell in the
valley of the Jordan, a circumstance which entitles the species to a place in the ‘ Birds of Asia.’

Crown of the head, lores, stripe beneath and behind the eye, down the sides of the neck, back of the
neck, upper part of the back, lengthened feathers down the centre of the back, and a narrow gorget
extending from the sides of the neck across the lower part of the breast steely black ; a narrow stripe over
each eye, from the nostrils to the occiput, white; primaries black and white, the latter hue occupying the
centre of the feathers ; secondaries white, crossed by a broad band of black near the tip, beyond which is
a narrow line of white; remainder of wings, scapularies, and back grey, separated from the black of the
upper part of the back by a broad line of white ; tail grey, tipped with white, the two colours separated on
the lateral feathers by a narrow bar of black; throat and under surface white, washed with buff, which
gradually increases in depth until it becomes deep sandy buff on the vent and under tail-coverts ; irides
dark brown; legs and feet pale blue.

The Plate represents the bird of the natural size, with several reduced figures around and in the mouth
of a Crocodile.

 
 
 
 

            

 

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GLAREOLA MELANOPTERA, Noran.

Black-winged Pratincole.

Glareola Nordmanni, Fisch.—Nordm. in Bull. de la Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de Moscou, 1842, p. 314. tab. i1.—Gray
and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 538.
Pratincola, Pall. Fauna Rosso-Asiat., tom. ii. p. 150.
—_— melanoptera, Nordm. Bull. de la Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de Moscou, 1842, p. 314, note.
—— Pallasii, Bruch, Revue 1844, p. lxxxi.
Pratincola Pallasit, Deg]. Orn. Eur., tom. ii. p. 110.

 

Tux term melanoptera proposed for this species by Nordmann being singularly descriptive of the feature by
which it is distinguished from all the other members of the genus, I have determined upon adopting it,
although by so doing I may be transgressing the rule of priority, the specific appellation of Nordmannii,
assigned to it by M. Fischer de Waldheim, in honour of its discoverer, being probably the name first
published.

One of the specimens from which my figures were taken is in the collection of T. C. Eyton, Esq., who
received it with some other interesting birds from Persia, from which country I have seen other examples ;
and we also know that it is found in Asia Minor, and in the southern part of Russia.

The Glareola melanoptera offers a remarkable resemblance to the G. torguata of Europe, both in size and
colouring, with the single exception that the under surface of the wing instead of being rufous is inky black,

and hence the appropriateness of the name I have adopted.

Unfortunately, nothing whatever has been recorded of its
respects it as closely assimilates to the other members of the genus, as

habits, but we may reasonably infer that in these
it does in its form and general style

of colouring.

Head, back, scapularies, wing-coverts and tertiaries olive-brown ; on the sides and back of the neck a

wash of rufous; eye-lash beset with white feathers ; lores black; throat buffy white surrounded by a narrow

line of deep black, which is somewhat broken or interrupted on the breast; breast pale olive-brown ; pri-
e of the wing and the lengthened flank-feathers black; shaft of the first
der eee the shafts of the remaining primaries white on the
l-coverts white ; central tail-feathers olive-brown ; the
ach side with the black bordered with olive-

maries, secondaries, under surfac

primary white both on the upper and un

under surface only; abdomen, upper and under tai

remainder white with black tips, all but the outer one on e

brown; irides brown; bill black; gape yellow; legs and feet olive.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

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GLAREOLA LACTEA, Temm.

Cinereous Pratincole.

Glareola lactea, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd. edit. tom. i. p. 503.—Id. P] Col. 399 Blyth, Cat. of Birds i M
, : | O . : i ) 5 rds in Us.
Asiat. Soc Calcutta, p. 259.—G. In, Ghiny, Con, of Birds, vol. iii, Pp. 538, Glareola, sp. 6.—Jerd.

Birds of India, vol. ii. part ii. p. 632.—Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part. iii

Gallina, &c., p. 62.

ortentalis, Jerd. in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci.

Galachrysia lactea, Bonap. Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. Sci.

Cinereous Pratincole, Lath., Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 365.

Cream-coloured Pratincole, Griff. Anim. Kin
Utteran of the Scindians.

» VOl. xii. p. 215.
» tom. xiii. séance du 2 aout 1856.

gd., vol. viii: p. 543, pl. 49.

 

Tuis is one of the smallest species of a very isolated group of birds peculiar to the Old World, the by no
means numerous members of which are very widely distributed.

Europe is tenanted by two, India by three,
Australia by two, and Africa by about the same number.

In their habits and economy they are all very
Swallow-like, as they also are in some parts of their structure. They hawk for insects in the air, but, unlike
the Swallows, run nimbly over the ground ; on the ground, too, they deposit their four speckled eggs, a
circumstance which closely allies them to the Grallatores ; and it is doubtless for this reason that the majority
of naturalists place them in that order.

The Glareola lactea, besides being one of the smallest species of the genus, 18 also one of the most
aerial of them ; for it spends much of its time in the air, hunting for its insect food over streams and marshy
places, for which its structure is well adapted, its wings being ample, its neck short, its feet diminutive.
It appears to be distributed over, and stationary in, all parts of India; that country must therefore be
regarded as its headquarters. Mr. Jerdon and other writers give some details respecting its breeding, but
do not say if the young are capable of running immediately after they are excluded from the egg, or if they
are helpless, like the young of Insessorial birds ; a knowledge of this particular is very desirable, as it would
tend to show the true position of the species in our systems.

This bird is figured in the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, from a specimen killed by him at
Luckurghat, with the following note :—

“This bird, which is called Awnyiu by the boatmen at this place, is not seen during the rains; its
manners and appearance are that of a Swallow, but its legs are like those of a Sandpiper. I saw some
hundreds skimming over the Ganges, but only shot one. In February 1829 I observed numbers on the
river between Futtighur and Allahabad.” -

The following is Mr. Jerdon’s account, which I take the liberty of transcribing :— .

“The small Swallow-Plover occurs throughout the greater part of the country, and vey a in
some localities, especially near large rivers. Now and then ree parties are seen hawking ee the ie
and fields ; but it prefers hunting up and down the banks of rivers, pic sandy ee a : ae ks.
In localities where they abound, vast parties may be seen ay evening after sunset ae a ong E it a
certain direction, and capturing insects as they fly. They live entirely on a me ee in the
air, in many cases Coleoptera. Several which I examined had pantie oe : be oe a

“T found them breeding at Thyetmyo, in Upper Burmah, with ae young ie a a sa a ae
Brooks, Civil Engineer, of Mirzapore, informs me that he found their ce q ‘oe a - i.
place. The parents endeavoured to entice him away from their nests, just. like < :

ms S.

: Se ree Tee a quarter of an
about one inch on the central feathers, diminishing a ae and the inner web of the last four or five
with white; primaries brown, the first four with white shafts, and the

3 >

; ; reast pale brownish grey; chest
hit ith b tips ; spurious wing dark brown; chin, throat, and breast p ‘ bill = i
white, with brown tips ; g ee ed ts. browal billlblacleneane
ich b ff; abd and under tail-coverts white ; axillaries and under wing-cover d eel
rich Dull; abdomen e

i ite; iri ‘k brown; legs dusky green.
op Lee ed orbits white; irides dark ;
a except that the lower p

inch on the outer ones, and tipped

I o ‘k 1 Peak c d S rotted
f he young are very similar to the ad ults,

| : Be er ie ent t of t l sl a id a young bird of the year, considerably reduced.
 ¢ the natural size, ar , 5 )
The Plate repr sents an adul oO

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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CURSORIUS COROMANDELICUS.

Indian Courser.

Charadrius Coromandelicus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. N : * oa
i yst. Nat. tom. i. pars ll. p. 692.—Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn. part i.

Cursorius asiaticus, Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. ii. p- 751.—Temm. Man. d’Orn. 2nde édit. tom
Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. Pp .
Courvite de la céte de Coromandel, Buff. Pl. Enl. 892.—Ib. Hi
Tachydromus Coromandelicus, Il. Prod. Pp. 250.
Coromandel Courser, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. v. p. 217.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol. ix. p. 353,
Cursor frenatus, Wag). Syst. Av. Cursor, Sp. -2.
Tachydromus Asiaticus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois. tom. ii. p- 90.
Coromandelicus, Vieill. Ib. pl. 232.
Orientalis, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p- 365.—Ib. Anim. in Menag. &c. p. 339.
Cursorius Tarayensis, Hodgs. in Gray’s Misc. 1844, p. 86.
coromandelicus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. Pp: 937,
p. 537.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Cal
Mus. part iii. p. 60.—Gray, List of Spec. and Draw.
B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 131.—Jerd. Madras
Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. vol. xiv. p. 108.

: li. p. 514.—Sykes in
art 1. p. 165.—Less. Traité d’Orn. p. 530.
st. Nat. des Ois. tom. viii. p. 129.

Cursorius, sp. 3, and App. p. 25. App. to
cutta, p. 259.--Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit.
of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by
Journ. Lit. and Sci. vol. xii. p. 216.— Layard, Ann. and

 

Tue members of the genus Cursorius are but few in number, and all are natives of the Old World. India is
the natural habitat of two, if not of three species ; of these, the one here figured has been noticed by nearly
every writer on Indian ornithology, and would therefore seem to be almost universally dispersed over the
country.

My son, the late Dr. J. H. Gould, says, in one of the last letters I received from him, “I procured my
specimens of the Cursorius Coromandelicus in the neighbourhood of Kurrachee, where it is tolerably plentiful
on the arid plains that subtend the fiery rocks so characteristic of Scinde. I have observed it there from
May till September, that is, throughout the whole of the hot season, but am unable to say whether it is
migratory ornot. Towards the end of October it seems to collect and feed in small companies, six or seven
being often seen within a short distance of each other. Although its structure is eminently adapted for
running, it does not depend upon this power alone for safety, but readily takes flight when’ closely pursued ;
and, moreover, being wary in the extreme, you can rarely obtain other than a long shot atit. Its habits ai
very like those of the Houbara, and it frequents the same ground, being probably attracted by the same kind
of food. The stomachs of those I examined contained the remains of grasshoppers and dragonflies, which
at the time were very plentiful. The flesh of this bird forms no bad adding to the ae

The following notice of this species occurs among the MS. notes on Indian Birds by Captain Boys :—

“This beautiful bird is found at Sultanpore and Nusserabad, and is often seen on the way from B erozepore
to Sukhur ; it has therefore a very wide range. Its flight iS remarkably easy, and when disturbed it ee
alights again at from fifty to one hundred yards. It is a very nimble munneg and does not stoop or crouch
while running as most of the Plovers do. It is a very good bird for the spit. a

Mr. Jerdon states that ‘*‘ The Courter is very numerous towards the nom northern part of the ta e a
much less so towards the south. It frequents the open bare Dae a = ee ee =
with great celerity, and picking up various Insects, beetles, ane sma wae a oe
breeds in the more retired spots during the hot weather, laying three eggs of a pale g J

: 5 : fe one Sj ina slight hollow.
much blotched and spotted with black, and also with a few olive spots. They are deposited in a shig

la length the bird varies from 81 to nearly 10 inches. As I have frequently killed birds of different lengths

 
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said to differ only in size

tet

from the same flock, I fancy that Swainson’s supposed new species, C. Orientahs,

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from the C. Asiaticus, must be abandoned.”

Colonel Sykes informs us that this species is “‘ numerous in Dukhun; but only on the open stony and
This bird has the shortness of intestine of the Bustard (equal to the length of the body), with
and with the same

Nig

grass plains.
a stomach nearly similar; feeding in the same manner on insects and their /arve,

a

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an

cursorial habits.”

Figures of this species occur among the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, and I find the following

in reference to it among his MSS. :—
«T observed several examples about Julisor in the Aligurh district ;
hen on the ground were very like those of a Plover : their flight resembled that of

i

they all appeared to be alike; their

positions and motions w
the Bahtah Goose. The stomachs of those I examined contained the remains of small beetles and other

‘nsects : the stomach of a female I examined upon another occasion was filled with large black ants.

«¢ This bird is also common about Jubalpoor.”

Mr. Layard states, in his interesting ‘‘ Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon,” that ‘it is found occasionally
in the Wally plains during the month of April.”

The sexes are so nearly alike, that by dissection alone can they with certainty be distinguished. The

young, examples of which were collected by Dr. Gould, are very different from the adults, as will be seen on

reference to the accompanying Plate.
Forehead and crown reddish chesnut, bounded with deep black on the occiput ; lores and a streak behind

the eye meeting at the back of the neck black; over each eye a line of white passing backwards and uniting
in the midst of the black of the occiput ; chin and upper part of the throat buffy white, gradually passing
into the light reddish chestnut of the breast and back of the neck ; upper surface, scapularies and wing-coverts
light olivaceous brown ; primaries and secondaries bluish black ; tertiaries tipped with white; outer tail-
feather on each side white, with a narrow line of black down the apical portion of the shaft ; the remainder
the two central ones with a faint trace of a black band near the tip, the others with a

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olivaceous brown,
broad band of black near the extremity and tipped with white, the extent of the white increasing as the

feathers recede from the centre; upper part of the abdomen rich deep chestnut, gradually blending with
the lighter hue of the breast ; on the lower part of the abdomen a large patch of black; flanks olivaceous ;
vent, upper and under tail-coverts white ; irides dark brown ; bill black ; legs and feet creamy white.
The young have the head and all the upper surface mottled with buffy white and dark brown ; a faint wash
of rufous on the back of the neck and breast ; and the tips of the central tail-feathers mottled like the back.
The figures, which are of the size of life, represent a male in the fully adult livery, and two young birds in

the variegated costume of their first autumn.

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EURINORHYNCHUs PYGM QUS.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

Platalea pygmea, Linn. Mus. Ad. Frid., tom. ii
edit., tom. i. p. 615.
Eurmorhynchus griseus, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd edit.
Birds of India, vol. ii. part ii. p. 693.
pygmeus, Pears. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng.
Bonap. Compt. Rend., tom. xliii. p. 596.—Gra
156. fig. 6—Harting, in Ibis,
1867, pp. 234, 235.
orientalis, Blyth, Ann. & Mag. of N
Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 270.

Prod Deez Oe—al(ae Syst. Nat., 12th edit., tom. i. p. 231; Gmel.

tom. il. p. 594.—Nilss. Orn, Suec., tom. ii. p. 29.—Jerd.

 

VO). Vo ps 27 Ie Asiat. Res., vol. xix. p. 69, pl. 9.—
y & Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 580, pls. 152 and
1869, p. 426.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part lil. p. 51.—Swinh. in Ibis,

 

at. Hist., 1844, vol. xiii. pp. 178, 179.—Id. Cat. of Birds in

Nor more than tw enty-four specimens of this highly curious little Sandpiper have been collected iva hundred

years ; and besides these, few others have been seen or satisfactorily determined as being identical with this

rare bird. Linnzus was comparatively but a young man when he first became aware of the existence of such an

anomaly. Nothing was then recorded respecting its history ; nor should we have known where to look for the
bird, had not other examples been obtained from time to time during the interval between the date when Linnaeus
wrote (1764) and that of Mr. Swinhoe’s visit to China in 1866 (ede Ibis, 1867, p- 234). Had the illustrious
Swede’s specimen been the only one known, we might naturally have supposed that it was a mere lusus or freak
of nature—an accidental dilatation of the mandibles of a Little Stint or some nearly allied species, so closely
does the Eurinorhynchus assimilate to those birds; but as all the examples since discovered are alike, there
is no doubt in my mind as to the specific if not the generic value of its distinguishing characters. Besides
the general resemblance of its structure, the bird undergoes precisely the same changes of plumage in
winter and summer as the Little Stint (Actodromas minuta)—the grey, white, and brown plumage of winter
giving place to a russet-red colouring, more or less diffused, at the opposite season.

The habitat of Linnzeus’s example was stated to be Surinam ; but this is a point which cannot now be deter-
mined: the chances are that a wrong locality was given to him, and that the temperate regions of the
Old World and some parts of the Arctic Circle are its true home—the winter being spent at the sandy
mouths of the great rivers of China and Asia generally, whence the bird retires northward to breed in
those high regions upon which man has not yet entered, but where, doubtless, many others of our rarer
Sandpipers lay their eggs and reproduce their young. Still this is mere surmise 5 and I might not have
suspected such a probability had not the specimen in full summer plumage, now in the new Museum at
Oxford, been collected on the verge of the polar seas.

An elaborate essay respecting this species having been published by Mr. Harting, I will say no ae
but give this gentleman all the credit he deserves for the Ee manner in which he has treated the
subject, by transcribing a large part of what he has said m ‘The Ibis’ for 1869: ; wera ae

“Notwithstanding the vagrant habits of the species will compose the Limico Sak , is : a in
searches of naturalists in all quarters of the globe, it is remarkable that a bird which . deseri a -
than a century ago by Linneus should still be one of the rarest and ee i si ae ae
all that has hitherto been published with reference to this species, It would appear the

Ae. asi gic seripti ating’
more immediately in the wake of Linnzus did little else than copy his original description, perpetuating

; Sr ing li thing to
by so doing the erroneous habitat which had been assigned to the bird, and adding little or nothing

; “78 ‘tain authors have created
its history Under the name of Platalea pygmea or Eurynorhynchus QTiseus, ou nce eee
: ea as . er species; while the few
some confusion by describing birds which were properly referable to an ot I . ae
‘ a smens whic rere procure
cen from specimens which wer
iol ipti rd have all been taken a
original descriptions on =. Pee of Eurynorhynchus was unknown; and even at the present
ime the true habité
plumage. For a long tim

day its precise geographical range remains undetermined. .

“The earliest notice of this species 1s to be found a al
: iis cum Ludovic Ulricee Regine Suecorum,’ &c., ees es
Adolphi Friderici Regis Suecorum,’ &c., Tomi secundi aoe Se
Dill, referred this species to the genus Platalea ; : re a aon bp Gunes
ee ie oe ee was a ae it differs sufficiently to justify the course which
are certainly with the genus /7wnga;.- - -

5 i hic é resen it S ands alone.
5 i R US Inw hich a pi Ss Ss
1 son adopte d mM fo F 2g t Ee ft V t e ft st

1 octavo catalogue usually appended to his
Linneeus in 1764, but entitled ‘ Museum
He, no doubt from the form of the
beyond this resem-

and Temminck,

 
A AWAY nw

fa
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ae

x

ry . 7 . . . p . “Ue / ° P 1 ng PI. 1a
“No specimen of this bird is to be found in the British Museum or m that of the Jardin des Plantes at
Paris. Those who have had the opportunity of observing the habits of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, assert
that it frequents the mud-flats at the mouths of rivers and the sands of the sea-shore, where it consorts with

various species of Zring@, and obtains from the surface the abundant harvest of food which is always left by

a3 v4
OAYN RD

a receding tide. Of its nidification nothing is known.

“In the case of so rare a species, a list of the specimens which are at present known to exist will
doubtless be interesting to many. I have therefore been at some pains to collect the following
information :—

‘1. The type specimen of Linnzeus, locality unknown, but said (no doubt erroneously) to have been from
Surinam, was in the Museum at Upsala in 1860. (Journ. ftir Orn., 1860, p. 290.)

«<2. One from Edmonstone’s Island, Saugur Sand, presented by Mr. Newcombe to the Museum of the
Asiatic Society at Calcutta in 1836. (Journ. As. Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 127.)

«© 3. One met with in Arrakan, by Capt. Lloyd, in 1836. (Asiatic Researches, vol. xix. p. 71.)

“4. One obtained in the Calcutta Bazaar, 1840. (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xiti, 1844, p. 178.)

“¢5. One from Saugur Island, mouth of the Ganges, in the Derby Museum at Liverpool. Purchased by
the late Earl of Derby from Mr. Leadbeater, about the year 1840. (Rey. Zool., 1842, p. 6.)

“6, 7. Two procured in 1846, at Amherst, in Tenasserim, by Mr. E. O’Ryley. (Cat. of Birds in Mus.
Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 270.)

‘*8_J1. Three specimens in spirits, and one skin, sent by Mr. J. KE. Bruce from Chittagong, 1856. (Journ.
Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xxv. p. 440.)

“12-23. Twelve killed at two shots (!) by Mr. Chapman in Chittagong (Journ. f. Orn., 1859, pp. 326, 327).

«94, One in summer plumage, obtained in Behring’s Straits on one of the Arctic expeditions, under
Capt. Moore, in H.MLS. ‘Plover’ (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1859, p. 201).” This specimen was exhibited by Mr.
Sclater on bebalf of the owner, Mr. John Barrow, F.R.S., at one of the Zoological Society’s meetings in
1859; and Mr. Barrow has recently presented it, with the remainder of his collection, to the new Museum
at Oxford, where it may now be seen. I am not aware of the existence of any other example in this state

of plumage.

a

>)
ry

For a full account of the bibliography of this singular bird, I must refer my readers to Mr. Harting’s
valuable paper in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1869, p. 426.

In justice to the research bestowed upon the subject by this gentleman, I append his descriptions of the

%
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ae

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appearance of the bird at the opposite seasons of winter and summer.
«© Adult in winter. Bill black, longer than the head, flat, dilated considerably at the extremity in a

hy
a

oe
aN

rhomboidal shape. ‘Tongue broad and smooth. Forehead, cheeks, throat, and underparts pure white ;
crown, nape and sides of neck, back, wings, and upper tail-coverts dusky brown, each feather margined more
or less with pale grey. Wings long and pointed; shafts of the primaries white; first quill-feather the
longest. Tail short, rounded, consisting of twelve feathers, the two middle feathers the longest and darkest
in colour. Legs and toes black, moderately long, slender, three toes in front, one behind, margined along
the sides; a slight membrane connecting the base of the middle and outer toe on each foot. Total length
6 inches ; bill 1 inch; wing, from carpus, 3°7; tarsus 0-9. (lxempl. typ. in Mus. Upsal.)

‘¢ Adult in summer (hitherto undescribed). Bill as above. Head, neck, breast, and back ferruginous ;
the feathers of the head, nape, and back with dark brown centres ; those of the throat and breast slightly
margined with white. Underparts, from the breast downwards, becoming gradually whiter towards the
tail. Primaries somewhat darker than in winter. Legs and toes black. (Exempl. in Mus. Acad. Oxon.)”

The figures, which are of the size of life, represent the summer and winter plumage.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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GALLINULA PHGENICURA.
White-breasted Waterhen.

Rallus phenicurus, Penn. Ind. Zool., p. 19, pl. 9.—Gmel. edit. Linn
Gallinula phenicura, Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. ii. p: 770.—Jerd. Birds |
1863, p. 427; 1870, p. 364.—Id. Proc. Zool. Soc.
Birds, vol. iii. p. 599, Gallinula, sp. 5.

Red-tailed Waterhen, Penn. Ind. Zool., p. 10, pl. 9; ibid. 4to p. 49, pl. 12

Red-tailed Gallinule, Lath. ; ii 7
p. 413. pe ne sol ps 770d. Gen. Syn) ol, , p, a6 mH Gen. Hist., vol. ix.
Gallinula javanica, Horsf. Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. ». 196.—
Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., fe Te on — Bhi Te
erythrina, Bechst.
Fulica chinensis, Bodd.
La Poule Sultane brune, Buff. Hist. des Ois., tom. viii. p. 204.—Pl. Enl. 896.
Porzana phenicura, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta. p. 284.—Swinh. Ibis, 1860, p. 67: 1861
p- 57.—Itby, Ibis, 1861, p. 246.—Schomb. Ibis, 1864, p. 261.—Blyth, Ibis, 1867 . iL. ieee
Gallinula (Erythra) phenicura, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part iii. p. 67. ie .
Erythra phenicura, Bonap. Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. Sci., tom. xliii. 1856, p.
Dawak, Dahak, or Dauk, Hind.; Boli-kodi, Telugu; Kureyn, of Gonds ; Kurayi, in Scinde. (Jerdon.)
Karawaka, Cinghalese ; Khaloo-gwet, Aracan ; Roa-Roa, Malay; Tri-bombo, Javan. (Blyth. ) ;

Syst. Nat., tom. i. Dealoe
of India, vol. ii, p

art il. p. 720.—Swinh. Ibis
1863, p. 321; : aan

Utsid/Ily 10), 414.—Gray & Mitch. Gen. of

 

Specimens of this Gallinule having lived for some time in the Zoological Society’s Menagerie in the Regent’s’

Park, I was not neglectful of the opportunity thus afforded me of noting the colouring of the soft parts during
life, nor of making the drawing on the opposite Plate from a very clean and well-feathered example imme-
diately after death. Of such opportunities advantage should always be taken, as they may lead to many in-
teresting results ; in the present instance a slight discrepancy has thus been detected between the colouring
of the soft parts as represented by me from life and their description by Dr. Jerdon, who states that the
irides are blood-red and the legs green, while in the living birds at the Gardens the former were brownish red
and the latter wax-yellow: confinement, it is true, may have affected the colouring of the irides and legs, or
it may be that those parts are heightened or of a different tint at different seasons.

That this bird is not a true Gallinule I freely admit ; and any one writing a Monograph of the Gallinuline
would classify the White-breasted Waterhen, with the species I have figured in the ‘Supplement’ to the
‘Birds of Australia’ under the name of Gallinula ruficrissa, another from Timor, and perhaps some others,
as a distinct form—which, indeed, has been done by the late Dr. Reichenbach, with the generic appellation of
Exythra, the propriety of such a separation being confirmed when we regard the difference in the habits of
these long-tarsed and short-toed birds, which are far less aquatic than those of the typical Gallinule, of which
our Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a prominent example.

Dr. Jerdon, speaking of the bird as observed by him in India, says :—

“The White-breasted Waterhen prefers thickets, hedgerows, and patches of thick jungle, often at some
distance from water; and it is often seen in gardens and close to villages. It comes out nu fields, gardens,
&c. to feed, and, when approached, runs to its covert with great rapidity and erect tail ; it celoubs with
facility through the thick shrubs and reeds, and is dislodged with difficulty. Near villages it oe oy
tame. It feeds both on grain and insects, and emits a loud call. Theobald found the nest in @ jheel, made
of a brownish cream-colour, spotted and blotched with brownish red. It is
Burmah into the Malayan isles.”
da valuable remedy by the natives of Bengal ;

of weeds, containing seven eggs
found throughout India and Ceylon, extending through
Mr. Blyth states that “ the blood of this species is accounte te
hence, in the bazaar, the dealers want a higher price for it nea for ones bud ig - size. sane
Captain Irby remarks that, in Oudh and Kumaon, the Gallinula phencura 1s “very common g

: . la es.”
ear, frequenting small ponds and swamps near villag hoe : fe thie
: In Ais ae on Indian birds by the late Captain Boys, it 1s stated! that he shots exon ea

ber, 1840, where |
ee difficult of access, flies slowly, but runs swiftly,

: KI dla Dagll Alva he found it ‘running over weeds and
Species at Khoonda Fool, on
skulking under brushwood near the water; it is shy and
and is very good eating.” i sc ty dhe nonrtene ete

The | c, re 7 Schomburgk, in his ‘ Notes on the Birds of Siam,’ says that in th ae -
wo : : as an additio
Waterhen is not very common ; it is very shy; and it w

our commissariat.”

as but seldom we could procure it

 
 

Speaking of the bird as seen by him im China, Mr. Swinhoe says :—‘ This is, | think, a summer visitant ;
it is not uncommon during that season from Canton to Tientsin.” ‘I saw it in a cage for sale at the city
gate, and was informed that it had been caught in the neighbourhood of Canton.” ‘At Amoy it is a rare
spring straggler.” In Formosa, “these birds were not uncommon about Taiwanfoo in summer, and at
Tamsuy I procured several examples in March; but I cannot be sure as to their spending the winter in
Formosa. In South China they are, I believe, birds of passage. Their eggs vary in shade of cream ground-
colour, and are spotted and blotched, in some cases only freckled with cinnamon-red and light purplish grey.
Length 1-65 in.; breadth 1°15.” In Hainan, “ this Moorhen was common everywhere about the lowlands.
I saw it within the walls of Kiungchow city, and frequently in the country in its neighbourhood. Also at
Heongpoo (W. Hainan).”

The sexes are alike in plumage, and may be thus described :—

Crown of the head, back of the neck, sides of the breast, and anterior portion of the flanks deep slate-grey,
bounded anteriorly by a broad line of deep black ; upper surface, wings, and tail deep olive ; forehead, face,
throat, anterior half of the neck, breast, and abdomen white; remainder of the abdomen, vent, and under
tail-coverts deep chestnut; irides brownish red; bill light green, with a patch of orange at the base of the
upper mandible ; legs and feet wax-yellow.

The figures are of the natural size.

2 OE TE EN ON) es
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HYDROPHASIANUS SINENSIS,

Chinese J acana.

> » All. - Zool., vol. ii. pl. 55.—Hodes. in Gr

Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. :
Gen. Zool., vol. xii. part i. p. 269.—Vieill. 2nd Edit. du N
Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., part iii. p. 1056.—Jerd. in Madras

Chinese Jacana, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 246.—Ib. Su
Ib. Gen. Syn. Supp., p. 256. iol, Wy

Parra Luzontensis, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii, p. 764.—Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i part ii. p. 709.—Vieill
2nd Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p. 447.—Ih, Ency. Meth, on a i D ae |

Le Chirurgien de 0 Isle de Lugon, Sonn. Voy. a la Nouv. Guinée, p. 82. pl. 45. | po

Luzonian Jacana, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 245.—Ib. Supp., p. 256._Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 390.

Le Jacana a longue queue, Cuv. Regn. Anim., tom. i. p. 498.

Parra phenicura, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Mise., p. 86 (Gray).

Hydrophasianus Sinensis, Wagl. in Oken’s Isis, 1832, p. 279.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 589.—
Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit, Mus., part iii. p. 114.—Ib. Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and
Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 142.—Blyth, in Jard. Cont. to Orn. 1852,
p- 53.

Tringa chirurgus, Scopoli.

Hydrophasianus Chirurgus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 273.

Dal-Kukra, Hindoos, Blyth.

Bhépi or Bhenpi, Bengalese, Blyth.

Vuppi-pt, Sohna, Surdul and Sookdel, Lath.

Pee wa, at Cawnpore, Lath.

Pekwar, or Joll mor, Lath.

Water Peacock of the English, Lath.

709.—Gould,
ay’s Zool. Mise. p. 86.—
» part il. p. 164.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s
ouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. tom, vile pata
Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xii. p. 204,

Pp., vol. ii. p. 324.—Lath. Gen, Hist., vol. ix, p. 391.—

 

Tuts species may certainly be considered one of the most elegant Jacanas yet discovered, and India may
well be proud of so graceful an ornament to her marshes, for a residence among which its entire structure is
most admirably adapted, its body being light and buoyant in the extreme, and the great expanse of its feet
and nails enabling it to traverse the floating herbage, leaves of the Nympheea, &c. with the greatest facility.
On the other hand, the filamentous or lancet-shaped terminations of the primaries would seem to militate
against any great powers of flight, and accordingly while those who have had opportunities of observing it
in a state of nature duly record the facility with which it swims and dives, they are silent as to its flight.
That -it ‘is widely diffused over India, is evidenced by the circumstance that Sfecutcus occur in most
of the collections sent from that country; it is also said to inhabit China and the Elibppmes: '

It has been stated that the Chinese Jacana undergoes a seasonal change, but I think that this has not
been clearly ascertained. To this point then I would direct the attention of those cae a a
opportunities of observing the bird in a state of nature. It is just possible that the ae é _ :
surface always white ; that the young males closely resemble them ; and tot fully adult males are distinguishec
by the style of plumage represented in the principal figure of the opposite Hates ee hat “A good
. In Sir William Jardine’s “ Contributions to Ornithology ” for 1852, Mr. Blyth inte ss i" bse os
notice of the habits of the Flydrophasianus occurs in the ‘Calcutta Sporting Review, ve . - ri ie a
birds,’ remarks the writer, ‘ breed during the rains, in flooded spots av ekG the a ie eae 7 one
forming a rude flat nest of grass and weeds, interwoven beoeatl aah fhe a - pentshaped
aquatic plant, which retain it buoyant on the surface; herein are oe : o ae nee ae eon
eggs, of an inch and a quarter in length. Their cece ee e Ne eae leaves or green
Jacanas to run with facility, apparently on the water, but in reality a oe i other veneer met
herbage meets their light tread. The food consists of the green ten a a ee a s.,
dependent on inundation for its production, and the numerous te ae In flight the legs are trailed
The cry is like that of a kitten in distress, whence them pe ae a with roped to these birds, that
behind like those of the Herons. The flesh is excellent. It 1s remarkable,

 
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a winged or only wounded one is never recovered. Though not web-footed, they dive instantly on the
attempt to capture them, and you see them no more.’ Of course, like so many other waders and water-fowl
(Gallinules and Grebes for imstance), they remain concealed among the aquatic herbage, with the nostrils
only above water, and so wait until they consider all danger over.

“As remarked by Mr. Jerdon, ‘This handsome species is (in the Peninsula of India) perhaps more
generally spread than the other Jacana (Metopidius Indicus), but is not so numerous, except in some few
localities. It frequents, like the other, weeded and lily-covered tanks, but is also often to be seen feeding at
the edges of rivers and tanks totally devoid of weeds. Feeds on seeds, also on shells and water-bugs.’ This
accords with our own observation in Bengal, where we have sometimes seen it, to all appearance, walking
on the water, and slight and little visible were the supports on which its long toes really rested. So far as
we have seen, it is much less gregarious than Metopidius Indicus. We have kept both species tame for
months together, thriving well upon the shrimps upon which all our various small Grallatores were fed.
H. Sinensis was, in the aviary, rather quarrelsome with its kind, but agreed well with every other species.”

I find figures of the adult and young of this species among the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore ;
and the following notes are taken from the accompanying MS. :—

‘“Futtehgurh, June 16, 1834.—I have been more than two years at this place, and have only observed
these birds just at this season of the year and till July. Sometimes only a single one, at others a pair
walking by the river side, or rather on sand-banks among the reeds and grass ; upon one occasion I observed
several pairs. The stomach of those examined contained insects.

“ Meangunj in Oude, Feb. 23, 1835.—Common in the marshes of Bengal; less so in those of the upper
provinces. Found small shell-fish and insects in the stomach. If kept a short time these birds are very well
flavoured and almost equal to snipe.

“In Nov. 1836, I found these birds in the Jubulpoor territories, and the stomachs of those I examined
filled with rice.”

Capt. Boys states that it is ‘common near Mando and at Nalcha. Runs nimbly over the water-plants
which cover the lakes near Malwa, procuring its food as it runs: this consists of weeds, the larvee of water-
insects, and occasionally of the perfect insect.

“Its note resembles the word pee-oo, with an intonation resembling the Cuckoos, but somewhat sharper
and shorter in the delivery.”

The sexes, as will be seen by the following descriptions, differ very considerably in colour; the female is
also much smaller than her mate.

Forehead, face, and front of the neck white; on the occiput a patch of black; back of the neck golden-
buff, separated from the white by a narrow line of black; upper part of the body and the scapulars glossy
chocolate-brown ; under surface similar, but of a very much deeper hue; wings white, the spurious wing-
feathers tipped with chocolate-black, the two outer quills entirely chocolate-black, the next chocolate-black
with a large mark of white along the basal portion of the inner web, the six succeeding white, margined
and tipped with chocolate-black ; outer secondaries white; inner ones white, with a large patch of brown on
the basal portion of the inner web; tail deep chocolate-black ; bill, legs and feet varying in colour from deep
green to a pale sickly pea-green ; eyes dark brown; spur on the shoulder horn-colour.

The female and young male have the head and upper surface glossy mottled light and dark brown, some
of the feathers being banded with freckles of black ; wing-coverts lighter brown, crossed with freckled bands
of dark brown ; lores, and a broad irregular band passing down each side the neck and uniting on the breast
in a gorget-like form, of a deep brown, mottled on the breast with buffy-white ; from behind the eye down
the side of the neck (behind the black band) passes a stripe of deep buff; chin and cheeks white; centre of
the breast creamy-white; primaries white, at the base largely tipped with chocolate-brown ; secondaries
white ; under surface and thighs white; centre tail-feathers light brown, the remainder white, mottled with
brown down the centre ; eyes dark brown ; legs and feet pale green.

The front figure in the accompanying Plate is the size of life.

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AIX GALERICULATA.

Mandarin Duck.

Anas galericulata, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p- 539.—Tb. Gmel. Edit

—Shaw, Mus. Lev., t. 10—Ib. Gen. Zool. ‘

p. 363.—Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. ii. pl. 287,

\ d’Orn., p. 635.

‘ Querquedula Sinensis, Briss. Orn., tom. vi. p. 450.—Id. 8y

Kinmodsui, Kempf. Jap., p- 129. pl. 10. fig. 3,

Yung-iang, of the Chinese.

Sarcelle de la Chine, Buff. Hist. des Ois., tom. ix. P. 276. pl. 19.—Ib. Pl. E

Chinese Teal, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. Pp. 548.—Edw. Glean., pl. 109,

Le Canard de la Chine, Cuv. Régn. Anim., tom. i. Poas .

Aix galericulata, Boie, Isis, 1828, p. ?—Q> Q oe wate a
g bee is es Gray and Mitch, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii, p. 614.—List of Birds in Coll. of

Cosmonessa galericulata, Kaup, Isis, 1829,

Dendronessa galericulata, Swains.—Anim. in Menag., p. 233.

Lampronessa galericulata, Wag). Isis, 1832.

: tom. i. p. 589.—Lath. Ind. Orn
» Vol. xii. part ii, p. |
—Temm. and Schle

» tom. ii. p. 871,
94. pl. 47.—Lath. Gen. Hist , vol. x.
g. Fauna Jap., Pp. 127.—Less. Traité

0, tom. ii. p. 478.

nl. 805, 806.

ee

eee

Peruars no group of birds is so generally dis y rface
grouy g y dispersed over the surface of the globe as the great family of the

Anatide or Duck tribe; even the arctic and ¢ ctl ti , i
e 5 en the arctic and antarctic portions of the globe being tenanted by species peculiarly
adapted to those regions ; the distant islands of New South Shetland, New Zealand and Kereuelen’s Land
° ° . : Fs . Es ° / e . 5 i
having species which never approach the continents of Australia, Africa or Americ

| : a, while in the temperate
regions of both hemispheres the species are various and abundant.

| : | As might be Supposed, the members of a
family so universally dispersed present much diversity of form, and comprise numerous gener

: a, some of which
are strictly marine, others lacustrine, others adapted for a rocky r

esidence, and others again for perching on
trees, &c. In this great group of birds two species occur pre-eminent for their beauty, viz. the Aix sponsa of
North America and the “iz galericulata of China and Japan ; these two birds are so precisely alike in struc-
ture and so similar to each other in colour for a short period of the year, as to require the scrutinizing eye

 

A

Vege Neal Us

Seyi

of a good ornithologist to determine which is the one and which is the other ; during the remainder of the

ra

year, the males, in obedience to a law which pervades the entire group, are dressed in a style of plumage so

NEES BI

I

very different and so gorgeous in colouring, that they may not only dispute for the palm of beauty with each

other, but are rendered some of the most conspicuously beautiful, interesting and extraordinary objects in
the whole range of ornithology ; the Chinese bird here represented will, however, doubtless secure the pre-
ference. Both species are as proud as they are beautiful, at the same time they are extremely docile, and
4 not only display their lovely hue on the ground and while swimming, but both have a habit of perching on the
é branches of trees, and, consequently, as pets they are esteemed in the highest degree. The Mandarin Duck,
whose native habitat is China and Japan, is so highly prized there, that not only is a high price demanded
for living examples, but they are held back from Europeans with a degree of obstinacy which almost amounts
to prohibition of their import; notwithstanding which many examples of both sexes have lately been brought
to Europe, and, contrary to the assertion of Latham and others that they will not breed in this country,
have bred repeatedly in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, and in the Menagerie of the late
Earl of Derby ; and the like success has attended their introduction into Holland. May we not then hope,
that through the instrumentality of the Zoological Society, the lovely bird here represented may become
fully naturalized ? for although it can scarcely be serviceable as an article for the table, a more ornamental
addition to our lakes and lawns cannot be found. i
George Bennett, Esq., of Sydney, New South Wales, who has given an interesting account of this species
in his “ Wanderings in New South Wales, China, &c.,” having stated that in its native country the male bing
loses his gay plumage in May and remains until August in a dress which bears a close resemblance to that
of the female, I was anxious to ascertain if a similar change took place at thessante period in this country,
and the following is the result of my observations on the specimens in the Sonieiie Galen lt
The first egg was laid on the 2nd of May, 1851, the female began to sit on the 20th, and a ae -
hatched on the 20th of June. When the female commenced sitting the male pegan to throw o ytoawee
plumage, and by the Ist of July had become so like the female as to be scarcely a ae
however, which are only moulted once a year, were not fully peter’ until the _ ° : Be Oa a
were then beautiful green, with a narrow stripe of snow-white, for about an ae eke a ate
the bill at this period was less brilliant, and the old male, the female, and therr pve i y ecalvakive noteled
in size and colour as to render it difficult to distinguish one from the uy ee ae: - pe _ eee
plumage, both chaste and elegant. One female laid six, another seven oe ea
by one of the parent birds, the other by a common oS nh oe a e young le of these broods
to her care two days earlier than the Duck. By the beginning Cf Octo p ee nae

ere PEO LC eee: Fed we P2LFe

Weer

waa

eggs entrusted

 

 
 

as well as the old drakes had all assumed their full and gorgeous livery, the youthful birds being scarcely
inferior in beauty to the adults ; and perhaps a more interesting and lovely sight was never seen in the Gardens
of the Zoological Society, rich as it has ever been in objects of the highest interest, than was to be observed
in the aviary which contained this double brood of Mandarin Ducks. At least ten out of the sixteen birds
were males, which during a part of the day were frequently to be seen perched on the branches of the
trees, and at others were exhibiting in the proudest manner their lovely hues while swimming in the oval
stone basin of water provided for their use. Circumstances having prevented me from continuing my
observations beyond the date above-mentioned, I requested B. Misselbrook, the intelligent keeper who had
charge of the birds, to take notes of the resumption of the full plumage of the old males, and the following
are the details with which he has furnished me :—

August the 20th. The old Mandarin male began to change his plumage. The first indication of the
change was the appearance of two or three white feathers on each side of the breast.

August the 23rd. The crest began to appear and the under parts of the body became nearly white.

August the 28th. The purple feathers on the breast began to show themselves.

September the 5th. The two large fan-shaped feathers began to appear, and also the small speckled
feathers which cover the thighs.

September the 29th. The change was now entirely completed and the bird in the height of his beauty.

The manners of this pretty species appear to be as gentle and loving as its dress is gay and beautiful ;
on which account, as Mr. Bennett informs us, it is regarded by the Chinese as an emblem of conjugal
fidelity, and is usually carried about in pairs in their marriage processions. When once mated their
attachment appears to cease only with life; even those in captivity being constantly seen moving about in
pairs.

The adult male has the forehead deep green; crown and back of the head chestnut, glossed with crim-
son; crest-feathers deep bluish green; feathers on the side of the head white; lores stained with pale rust-
red, passing into the rich deep reddish chestnut of the feathers of the sides of the neck, each of which has
a lighter stripe down the centre, the stripes on the upper ones being nearly white; back of the neck, back,
wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts olive; lower part of the neck and sides of the breast rich reddish
plum-colour, immediately behind which on each side are three irregular crescentic bands of black, between
which are two bands of white ; scapularies nearest the body olive, the next row olive at the base, dull velvety
black on the outer web, and shining purplish blue on the inner ; to this succeeds a row white on the external
web, olive on the inner, and tipped with steel-blue, and lastly a row, curving upward, white broadly bordered
externally with velvety black ; primaries dull black, broadly margined externally with silvery white and largely
tipped on the internal web with green; bases and inner webs of the secondaries olive, the apical half of
their outer webs deep shining green, passing into dull black near the tips, which are white ; interior web of
the inner secondary developed into a fan-shape, standing upright, and, together with a portion of the tip of
the outer web, rich rust-red, edged on its upper half with white and on its lower half more broadly with
black ; outer web rich blue; flanks pale reddish brown, becoming much paler towards the extremity of the
feathers, and transversely rayed with fine irregular lines of black, the rays increasing in breadth towards the
extremities of the feathers, where they terminate in a conspicuous line of white, bounded at the tip with a
broader one of black; under surface pure white; on either side near the tail a spot of purplish chestnut ;
tail-coverts olive-green ; tail brown; bill vermilion ; nail orange ; feet yellow; eyes full, brownish black.

The female has the head, neck and crest dark brownish slate-grey ; transverse line down the sides of the
upper mandible, circle surrounding the eye and continued down the side of the head, and the chin white ;
upper surface, wings and tail olive-brown ; secondaries tipped with white, several of them with a mark of
purplish green near the tip bounded with velvety black, and with a line of white along the basal portion of
the margin; breast and flanks brown, with an oval spot of very pale brown near the tip of each feather ;
under surface white ; bill bluish grey; nail orange ; tarsi and toes dull greyish yellow; webs greyish black.

The nestling bird has the whole of the upper surface, wings and tail brown; under surface brownish
buff; behind the eye two narrow lines of brown.

The egg is of a delicate buffy stone-colour, two inches long by one inch and a half broad.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size, from a spirited and beautiful sketch taken by
Mr. Wolf from the living birds in the Gardens of the Zoological Society.
 
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STER NA ME LANO GASTE R, Temm.,
Black-bellied Tern,

Sterna melanogaster, Temm. Pl. Col. 434.—Burg. in Proc. Zool. Soc.

acuticauda, Hardw. and Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool., eo ution

Hydrochelidon melanogaster, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. Pp. 660, Hydrochelidon,
VP Acad. Sci., tom. xii.

Sterna javanica, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 293.—Jerd Bir

» Part xxiii. (1855) p. 184.

 

sp. 7.—Bonap. Compt. Rend. de

ds of India, vol. ii. part ii. p. 840.
<1.

Tus very elegant Tern is so generally distributed over the Indian peninsula th
particularize the localities in which it has been observed by those who have paid attention to the ornithology
of that country; but I may mention that Capt. Irby found it numerous in Oude and Kumaon, that the ihe
Hon. F. J. Shore met with it at Lukurghat (where he states that the boatmen call it chelooree), that Capt.
Burgess saw it in abundance on the sandbanks of the river at Sukkur about the middle of March, and also
found it common on the river Bheena. Like other species of the genus, it occasionally ascends the rivers

at it seems superfluous to

for a considerable distance from the sea, particularly those that are subject to inundations, and where sandy
and shingly banks are the natural consequence.

“While walking on a sandbank in the midst of the river Bheena,” says Captain Burgess, “I was beset by
a pair of these Terns, and, on looking about on the ground, found two eggs deposited in a slight hollow
scraped in the moist sand not far from the edge of the water. These birds, when flying overhead, utter a
cry very like the chirp of a Sparrow. They breed during the months of March and April, laying two eges
of a rich stone-colour, spotted chiefly round the centre, and more sparingly over the larger end, with grey
and light-brown spots, and measure one inch and rather more than two-tenths in length by one inch
in width.”

Mr. Jerdon states that “ it is seen hunting singly or in small scattered parties over every river in India, and
that it breeds on the sandbanks of the rivers in all parts of the country, and usually lays three eggs.”

Some authors have considered this species to be identical with the Sterna javanica of Horsfield ; but it only
requires a careful reading of Horsfield’s description, in the thirteenth ee of ie “ Transactions) of the
Linnean Society, to ascertain that this is a fallacy. Others, again, have associated it with the Marsh-Terns,
and assigned it a place in the genus Hydrochelidon: this also is an error 3 for its ee feet, as well as seven
other parts of its structure, indicate that it is a true Sterna, of which genus, beautiful as are most of its
members, there is not one more graceful in contour, or more striking in appearance. As far ae a
it is the only species having a black belly—a feature which offers so strong ee os te :
the other parts of the plumage that it must render the bird a most conspicuous © eo oe eae A
believe this mark is common to both sexes, and hence the name of melanogaster applied to it by Temminck
is singularly appropriate. ears .

feo of He head and nape deep black ; all the upper surface, wings, and tail hgh Sue ee . -

a : : : idible, chin, and throat white; breast pearly white,
primaries and tail white; line at the base of the upper mat , hall oan e aaalenine earl
gradually blending with the black of the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; bull orange 5
ge crmilion. : : i ‘th dusky, and the abdomen is pearly grey instead

“In winter,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘“ the head is white mixed with dusky,
of black.”

es oe mer.
The Plate represents the bird of the natural size, in the plumage of sum

 
 
 
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URIA CARBO.

Kurile Guillemot.

Cepphus Carbo, Pall. Zoog., p. 350. t. 79.

Uria Carbo, Brandt, Bull. de l’Acad. Sc. Imp. St. Petersb. vol. ii. 1837.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii,
) p. 645, Carbo, sp. 3.

 

Tar rocky coast of the great Peninsula of Kamtschatka, the Okotsk and Behring’s Seas are the native
habitat of this species of Guillemot, which may be regarded as the representative there of the Uria Grylle

e of Europe and America, and where it doubtless performs the same offices in the economy of nature, and
¢ exhibits precisely similar habits. It is an extremely rare bird in the collections of Europe, which is solely
< attributable to the circumstance of its being an inhabitant of such remote and little-frequented localities as
e above-mentioned. It was first made known to science by the great traveller and naturalist Pallas, who states
é that it is only found in the Eastern seas, that it is very plentiful about the Aleutian Islands, and especially on
a the rocks of Oonalaska, and that it migrates in the spring to the Kurile Islands, which stretch across from
: Kamtschatka to Japan.

This species is altogether a larger and more robust bird than the Uria Grylle, and, moreover, differs from
it considerably in the colouring of the face, as shown in the accompanying Plate, the eye being surrounded
by a large circle of pure white, presenting a striking contrast to the sombre hue of the general plumage.

I am indebted to Dr. Hartlaub and the other directors of the Museum at Bremen for the loan of a fine
specimen of this bird, which with the greatest liberality was transmitted to London to enable me to give a
figure of it in the “ Birds of Asia”. May I hope that similar favours will be accorded me by coe ee
possess examples of the rare species described by Pallas and other Russian travellers, and of which so little
is at present known? Such attentions will be duly appreciated and suitably acknowledged. oo

An irregular spot on either side of the base of the upper mandible, a second at the base of ae a 2
the under mandible, the chin, and a large patch surrounding the eye and passing some distance ae a
side of the neck, white ; the remainder of the plumage sooty black ; bill black ; legs and feet red nails black ;
irides red.

The figures are of the natural size.

 

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