60. Ithagìnis cruentus
61. It/iaginis Geoffroyi
62. Gallus ferrugineus
63. Gallus Lafayetti
64. Gallus Sonnerati
Ge n u s ITHAGINIS.
Ithaginis, Wagler, Isis (1832), p. 1228. Type Ithagx
S u b f a m il y GALLINÆ.
G e n u s GALLUS.
Gallus, ßriss. Ornithologie (1760). ' Type Gallus ferrugineus.
Plate XXX. Volame li.
Ha te XXXI. Volume II.
Plate XXXII. Volume II.
Plate XXXIII. Volume II.
Plate XXXIV. Volume II.
65. Gallus earn Plate XXXV. Volume II.
S u b f a m il y AGELASTINiE.
G e n u s PHASIDUS.
P/iasidus, Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Scienc. Phil. (1856), p . 322. Type Pliasidus niger.
66. Phasidus niger . . . . . . . . . . • • Plate XXXVI. Volume II.
G e n u s AGELASTES.
Agelastes, Bonap. Proc. Zool. Soc. (1849), p. 145. Type Agelastes meleagrides.
67. Agelastes meleagrides Plate XXXVII. Volume II.
S u b f a m il y NUMIDINAE.
G e n u s ACRYLLIUM.
Acryllium, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. Birds (1840), p. 61. Type Numida wlturh
68. Acryllium vulturinum . . . . . . . . . . Plate XXXVIII. Volume II.
G e n u s NUMIDA.
Numida, Linn. Syst. Nat. (1766) vol.-i. p. 273. Type Numida meleagris.
69. Numida meleagris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Plate XXXIX. Volume II.
The Greeks named this species, the only one known to them, meleagris, under the impression that the birds were the production
of the metamorphosis o f the sisters of Meleager, the spots on the plumage being the trace of tears
70. Numida mitrata
71. Numida coronata
72. Numida ptilorhynclia
Plate XL. Volume II.
Plate XLI. Volume II.
Plate XLn. Volume II.
73. Numida Granfi
74. Numida Verreaucoi
75. Numida cristata
76. Numida pucherani
77. Numida plumífera
Plate XLIIL Volume II.
Plate XLIV. Volume II.
Plate XLV. Volume II.
Plate XLVI. Volume II.
Plate XLVU. Volume II.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.
The impossibility of ascertaining the exact limits of the habitats of many of the members of this Family renders it a somewhat
difficult matter to define their geographical distribution with the accuracy and minuteness so desirable, but rarely indeed obtained.
In designatino- the boundaries of the countries inhabited by the various species, I have always consulted the latest authorities procurable;
and although in some instances' the ranges may have been restricted to a greater degree than is perhaps actually the fact, I have
deemed it best not to pass mto the i realm # probability, but to* give’"only the various localities which have been furnished by the
dilferent travellers who have themselves procured th e species. It is very possible th at some of the Chinese Pheasants have more
extended-ranges than I have allowed them ; but, as they are chiefly mountain-loving birds, it is extremely difficult to ascertain with
afiy’*approach to certainty the exact limit of their dispersion; nevertheless I am led to believe that there will not hereafter be
found any serious discrepancies in the habitats which I have allotted to the various members of the Phasianid®.
In considering the geographical distribution of the Alectoromorph® by themselves, regardless of other ornithological groups, Prof.
Huxley has shown that it i’s necessary to divide the. globe into a northern and southern portion by drawing a line across the
American continent north of Mexico, theu passing eastward and southward over the Atlantic, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, leaving
Africa to the north. Then, by “ Wallace’s lin e ” between the Indian and Papuan divisions of the Malay archipelago, the boundary
goes between the Philippines and Formosa, and then southward and eastward to the Samoan archipelago^ These two great divisions
are named respectively Arctogcea and Notogeea. The only genera of the Phasianidse which pass to the south o f this boundary are
Meleaoris (which is met'with both in the Nearctic and Neotropical divisions) of Dr. Sclater and Gallus (found in the Philippines).
For generalizations upon a very extended area, Prof. Huxley’s divisions supply a desideratum Mdfig needed in physical geography,
and, taken in connexion with the well-known partitions of the earth’s surface, proposed long since by Dr. Sclater, render it a
comparatively easy matter to. map out the distribution of species. Thus the Alectoromorph® are preeminently an Arctogaian family,
having but two slender offshoots in the Notogtean fauna, and are found in all o f the zoogeographical divisions of the globe. On
examining tlie different portions of Arctogsea where the various members o f the Phasianid®'are indigenous, our attention is naturally
directed first to Asia, where by far the largest number are found, and which presents itself to us as the stronghold of the family,,
and where it had its origin. On entering the vast empire of China from the east, we find that the comparatively flat land lyingbetween
the coast-line and the elevated mountain-ranges which extend from Hong Kong on the south to Pekin on the north,
possesses but two species of Pheasants,—the Phasianus torquatus, ■ which is dispersed generally throughout the entire tract, and the
Euplocamus nycthemerus, which is restricted to the provinces of the south (Kiangsi being the most northern), where the country is
generally more hilly. But on entering the fountains; which p ass-up and down the land, commencing in the vicinity of Hankow
and extending 'in;; endless peaks and ranges to a vast distance to the westward, numerous species, of great variety of form and
plumage, are- encountered. Within the district bounded by the ocean on the east, Thibet on the west, Cochin China and Burmah
oh the south, and Mongolia on the north, no less than twelve species of this family, are known to dwell, belonging to seven distinct
genera, very nearly one half of all those to which, in this work, I have apportioned th e species. More than a moiety of these
birds appear to range in the provinces of Szechuen, Hoonan, Hupeh and Shansi. Some of them are found stretching across the
country from Hankow to Thibet, even penetrating within the ‘ limits of that country, while others are confined to a comparatively
narrow tra c t; but there do not appear to be. decided boundaries for all the species, as many enter districts inhabited by others.
In the comparatively unknown country of Thibet some fine species are found ; but these are also natives of the western portion of
Szechuen—excepting Crossoptilon T/iibetanum, the exact locality of which has not yet been discovered. From Moupin, on the Thibetan
borders, Pére David has sent to Paris .many forms heretofore entirely unknown to science; and the family of the Phasianidse has
been greatly enriched by the discoveries of this intrepid explorer. At the present day it is impossible to give any idea o f the
probable number of species inhabiting Thibet, many new ones undoubtedly still remaining within its strictly guarded borders.
Amid the lofty ranges of the Himalayas, rising like a wall between this last-named country and India, many species of Pheasants
are found, some o f which are restricted to the mountains. Elevation is one of the natural limits to certain of these species,—some
preferring the altitudes of from twelve to fourteen thousand feet) such as those of the genus Ithaginis); while others are dwellers on
the slopes running down to the plains from heights of from seven to eight thousand feet, as is observed in certain members o f the
genera Ceriornis and Euplocamus. I have experienced no little difficulty in giving limited areas for the Phasianid® in the Indian
Region, particularly in India itself, so-called; instead of being a distinct zoological region, it is more a kind of neutral ground
where the faun® of many other divisions: meet, and thus presents a complication of zoogeographical difficulties not easy of solution.
The Himalaya range, both tin regard to its two extremes of length and also in its various altitudes, contains many faun®; and I
have found it advisable to divide it and speak of a North-west and South-east Himalaya, placing in the neighbourhood of Keitmandu
the point from which these two divisions start. India proper is restricted, as I conceive, to the Plains, North-west Provinces,
Punjab, and Scinde. I t is most likely that, before this difficult territory can be regarded as satisfactorily arranged in a zoogeographical
sense, something like the division proposed by Mr. Blyth (in his tibié article published in ‘Nature,’ March 30, 1870) will be