accepted by naturalists ; for, as it is a t present constituted, th a. Indian Region is more apt to mislead in mapping out the zoological
divisions of the earth thau to render the assistance so much needed. ' India, therefore, including Biirmah and Siam, cpntains the
gre atest' number of species o f the various branches.of this family‘of any country^ on . the globe. Twenty-one different kinds are
here met with (many of them being found upon the Himalayan range) belonging to eight different genera—nearly double the number of
species, occurring in China, with, however,, only one more, genus. Somesiof the species here considered Indian,, Blythi,
Lophophorus Sclatem, Euplocamus Andersmiy.teiw may withiisbme; degree of* propriety be divided between China and India,, as they
are inhabitants of that portion .which, lying ;elose: to the Chinese border of. Upper- Burmah, is designated asi the Indo-Chinese, country.
The great districts of Mongolia, Transbaikal,: Amurland, Mantchouria, &c., lying in the northern part of the; Asiatic division o f the
globe;( for their extent, contain but few members of the Phasianidse.; andl it is in the v,icinity-iof the mountain-ranges; that, the species
are mainly found. The vast.desert-like; plain'extending-through Mongolia nearly to; the Altai range has of.,course much to do with
the paucity iof P h e a sa n trfo rm s fo r, as soom as. it is left behind,.in the district of Yarkand (on its western terminus) the habitat of
some o f the finest species of the family, such as Pliasianns Shawi aud P.insignis, is reached. How far up the slopes of th isi(range
these birds extend is unknown; ¡but t probably not much over half their altitude; as on the western side another splendid ;species
occurs, the. P ; allied to .the-others,. but quite .d is tin c t.. Here it would seem that, the tru e ,Pheasants (Phamnus) had; their
origin, in a form .something like that represented to .u s by. P . Shawi in the present day ; .and they probably g l i d e d
land to the'.borders of the sea, when the face of th e country was,; very; different from what it is now.
By ¡successive physical: changes, gradual tin some cases,' violtent and rapid in others, individual's in different localities became
permanently separated; and injidue course of time,. through the; action of various qualities of climate, food, and soil, they departed
from the: original type,,, eventually assuming distinctive characters of structure and plumage;, and designated by naturalists as species.
Of course: only those individuals; remaining . in the locality which possessed like physical conditions with those to which the type
had always been accustomed, would be able to retain a similar appearance to the .original stock; and it was therefore that, on
the discovery of P . Shawi, which* contained in itself more of the characters exhibited by th e other, species of Phasianus, I was
inclined to look upon it as approaching nearer the typical style than, any other of which iwe have a t present any knowledge.
Cochin China contains', only one species of Phasianidae hot met with,;elsewhere, the beautiful Polyplectron Germaini. The Asiatic
Islands, those: forming the Empire o f .Japan and. the Malay archipelago;, and also the Islands of Formosa and Ceylon, contain
various species of this , family,, some o f which; are not known- upon . the continent. These, however;, are few, in. number,, and. are
representatives o f the older forms; upon; the mainland, which in many particulars they still resemble; The great islands of Niphon
aud Kiensin, , belonging, to Japan, present us with two:; species o f Pheasants unknown elsewhere, one of them, the P . versicolor,
haying; its nearest. , ally, strangely enough, in the) P . elegans of Southern China. It may perhaps be too- strong a term to call this
bird- the ally ¡of P . versicolor in preference to; any other species o f Phasianus •, but a t all events, though the two are separated by.
many miles of sea and land, they have more .characters in common, so far as the colour of the plumage ,, is concerned, than any
others of the genus. Formosa has its peculiar species of the-genus Euplocamus, pr-obably a descendant of many ages from the.
E<nycthemerus o f the neighbouring .Chinese,provinces, altered to its .present form by itbe unusual agencies of insular, life.. The
form of P . torquatus inhabiting the same island, which I have designated as P . formosanus, is .also another .evidence, hf. change from
the typical style by an altered condition of existence. The Philippine Islands - and the small Island of Hainan are only represented
in this, family by a species of Jungle-rfowl, the Gallus ferrugineus, identical with the. continental bird in the colour of plumage,
but differing in. Hainan by its;-smaller size. In the. Timor group this family is represented only by the genus Gallus, found-;ih-
four of the islands; while a species of the same genus is met with in Southern Celebes. The Indo-Malay group contains species
o f various genera, some of which, like Argus giganteus. in Sumatra, differ in no degree from the continental bird. The, occurrence
of this species in.,this- island,- separated as it is by, the shallow sea from the Malayan peninsula, as. shown by Mr. Wallace, indicates
its redent severance from, the mainland; for the Argus Pheasant, by reason of the secondary quills being o f an' exaggerated
length; is, incapable of any continued flight, and migration is therefore rendered impossible? even if the species possessed the inclination;
and if it had been; an, inhabitant of an island for any length of time, geologically speaking, it would certainly exhibit variations
from tbe original form, as has been the case with the. Argus discovered in Borneo, which differs materially in size and markings
from the common species;; In this division various, genera of the Phasianid» are represented, some of them being among, the
handsomest, of the family.
The Island of Ceylon, contains but . two. species—the Common Peacock of India (P . cristatus) being abundant there; and also Gallus
Lafayetti. The countries lying between the Altai Mountains and In d ia . on the east, the Mediterranean and Red Sea on the,
west, contain but very few members o f .the Phasianidee, only one recognized species being an inhabitant of Asia Minor. Passing
southwards into the African continent, we find the family represented by four genera, peculiar in themselves, ‘and: possessing
strong characteristics—one of them a t least, however, being in some particulars closely allied in osteological structure:: to an
Indian genus. They are strange birds, one o f them (Phasidus niger) being apparently between Euplocamus aud Numida. No species
of Phasianidie is indigenous to Europe, although many have been introduced a t various periods and have: multiplied greatly. The
dates at which the birds have been acclimatized are in some cases quite recent, in others of considerable antiquity, the P . colchicus
having been brought to England nearly one thousand years ago. Only one genus o f this family represents it in the New World
IN T R O D U C T IO N .
but its members have a -vide range, extending over the eastern portion, of the United States through Mexico, and various portions
of t l n i t t d America. I Although inhabiting the same districts .a f e jh g Tetraonmte and. Cracid»,, ,t ha. but few affinities wit , the
members of either of these fiimilies. and is no outlying form of tlie Phasianidm. The following list shows more particularly the
geographical distribution of each species. .
PAVO.
Range o f the Genus.
.Indian Region.
. Range o f the Species.
1 Pam crktatu*. Met with S « « tlnoughout India and m Ceylon
■2 A w j § 3 ro u ffifm Arakail Te„»SSeri„, * • « . ,
ARGUS.
Range o f the Genus.
Indian Region.
Range o f the Species.
R i i - d r j i ' « d W W B j lf* » the Malayan ,pffiffluU* and S m a lm
^ 2-2 ?-, Argus Grayi. Island of Borneo.
3. Argus ocellatus. Stated to have come from Malacca (Verreaiuv).
4. Argus bipunctatus.' Unknown. -
POLYPLECTRON.
Range o f the Genus.
Indian Region..
Range o f the' Species. •
1 Polypleiuon » t o » « ,« . Found generally throughout India; also met with in Sumatra and in Southern China, in the province
of Yunnan:
2. Polyplectron bicalcaratum. Malay peninsula and Sumatra.
3. Polyplectron Germaini. Only obtained in Cochin China, among the mountains of Bien-hoa.
4. Polyplectron emphamm. Habitat unknown ; supposed to be Borneo.
5. Polyplectron chalcunm. Island of Sumatra,
CROSSOPTILON.
Range o f the Genus.
Palsearctic- Region.
Range o f the Species.
1 , d m m t i l i i i thietamm Thibet, exact locality not ljnoj®.- I
Vicinity of Moupin, EasternJIpdhpt; .therimctdpt: of its range not yeti a s c e r t a i n e d - ..........
southern l im i tM dns species us the D W M ' t r a e h e ,
. I„sbi,„-Kl,i4a„ Mountains, and northward into Mantehnna; but whether it is found beyond that country is not Know . 11
Corea on the east, and may inhabit .that district (a t present a complete terra .mcogmKi), and is met with also on the gp
Shan Mountains in the Province of Kirin. .
4. Crossoptilon auritum. As yet only found in the Province of Kokonoor, in north-eastern Thibet.
LOPHOPHORUS.
Range o f the Genus.
Indian and part of the Palaearctic Regions.