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T a b b . L X . e t L X I .
LO PH O PH O R U S IMPEYANUS.
It is not a little singular th a t the elevated regions of the Himalaya, verging upon the limits o f perpetual
snow, should present us witli a tribe of birds which arc distinguished almost beyond all others by the brilliancy
of their pinmage;—wc allude to an extensive group o f the family of P ka ia r iim , forming several genera,
among which the genus before ns is pre-eminently cliaracterlzed by the intense metallic lustre of its colours.
The genus L o fh o fh o n a , first csttiblislied by the illustrious Cuvier, is very limited iu its numbers, tlic present
splendid bird being the only species now aclinowledged as having true cluim to the generic title.
T ha t a bird, which i f introduced into our country would form a splendid ornainent to onr woods and
lawns, and which would doiihtlcss bear the climate as well as the Teacock from the plains o f India, or the
I’hcasant o f the confines of China, should have been hitherto almost a stranger even to our museums, is a
circumstance to be wondered at, and only to be attributed to the remoteness of its native bahltat, anti the
difflciilty of transporting it across a wide c.xtent of country before it can reach tlic coast. H’e may hojie,
however, that by the exertions o f our iimnerous scientific investigators of India it may ere long become a
denizen o f our parks.
The food of the Impeyan Pheasant consists iu a great measure of bulbous roots, for the scooping up of which
the upper mandible, like that of the Francolins, being of a spoonlike form, is peculiarly adapted.
Nothing can present a stronger contrast than the plumage of tlie female and young male witli that o f the
adult male. W hile in the la tte r all is resjilendent with tints of burnished grccii and purjile changing in every
light, m the former the general colour is of a deep brown variegated witli lines of white and zigzag markings
o f rusty brown, a colour with which the feathers o f the tail are barred. The crest o f such birds merely
consists o f somewhat lengthened feathers.
In the adult male, the head is ornamented with a crest o f long feathers, each of which arises by a slender
filiform peduncle and becomes spatulate a t its e.xtrcinity. This crest as well as the head and throat are of
a rich metallic green ; the back of the neck of a metallic p u rp le ; the back and wings are steel blue, a white
bar crossing the middle of the fo rm e r; the tail is rich ferruginous deepening a t the extremity; tlie whole of
the under surface black.
Tab. LX. represents the male, and Tab. LXI. the female, two thirds of tlieir natural size.