TABB. EX Vi..kr LXVEIFE.
PHASIANUS ALBO-CRISTATUS.

Mas. Phas. supra ater, viridi nitore splendens; dorso imo albo fasciato ; cristw plumis albis,
elongatis, deorsim recumbentibus, bast subfuscis; remigibus corporeque inferiori fuscis ;
pectoris plumis lanceolatis albescentibus. ,

Fom. Corpore supra cristaque breviori fuscescenti-brunneis ; abdomine pallidiore ; guld, pluma-

rumgue corporis apictbus et rhachibus albescentibus ; rectricebus lateralibus atris, medis

brunneis albescenti undulatis.

Longitudo corporis, 22 unc. ; caude, 12; ale, 94; tarsi, 2+.

Tue aspect and form of the present bird differ strikingly from those of the genera Tragopan and Lophophorus
which have just been noticed. Its characters are extremely interesting, as forming a very obvious connecting
link between the genera Gallus and Phasianus ; the group being allied to the former genus by its short and
arched tail and its strong tarsus and spurs, and to the latter by the more delicate contour of body and the
less developed comb and wattles. The group of birds to which this species belongs has been formed by
M. Temminck into a genus named Luplocamus. Unlike the Gal, who frequent the lower districts and flat
jungles of the Asiatic continent, it prefers the more elevated portions of the country, where its food consists
chiefly of seeds, wild bulbous roots, &c.

The head is ornamented with a pendent crest of white feathers ; the naked skin of the face is bright scarlet ;

ad, back and sides of the neck, as well as the back and shoulders, are black, with metallic

the top of the he
brownish black; the rump and upper tail-coverts are beautifully barred with

green reflections ; the quills
blueish black and white, each feather being black at its base and tipped with a margin of white; the tail is

black ; the breast and under-surface covered with lanceolate feathers of an intermingled brown and white

colour ; the thighs, bill and legs are brown.
The female wants the lanceolate feathers of the breast, and the feathers of the crest are brown, as is the

whole of her plumage, obscurely marked on the upper surface with minute zigzag lines.
The male and female are figured two thirds of their natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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