L O P H O P H O R U S I M P H Y A N ï ï i
ground: whether any nest is made I know not, but ‘Mountaineer’ says the female makes one ‘ under a small overhanging bush,
or tuft of grass.’ The eggs are o f a dull cream- or pale buff colour, sprinkled with reddish brown.: Like most gallinaceous
birds, the Monaul may be said to ¡ I f omnivorous. ‘Mountaineer’ says that it will not tòutìfe wheat, and barley ; bpt those I have
had in confinement ate rice and grain readily, as well as insects, worms, maggots, flesh, lizards, fish* eggs, &c.. I t ia a diligent
digger; and the slightly expanded tip of the mandible acts like a hoe or shovel. I had several of these birds in an aviary a t Mullye,
in Tirhoot. They were strong and vigorous as long as the cold weather lasted, and soon became tame-—unlike the red Pheasants
(Ceriornis) purchased at the same time from the Botias passing through the station, which never lost their original wildness, and
began to droop about April ; whereas the Monauls did not succumb to the atmosphere of thè plains till June, when the rains, had
set in. Unlike the smaller Hill-Pheasants, they were not pugnacious. I f shipped off early in-the cold weather from Calcutta, these
birds could easily enough be transported to England, where the temperature would suit them, if there were any means of giving
them shelter during the extreme severity of- winter, or of procuring for them in that season a proper substitute for the insect food
which never fails them on the lower elevations of the Himâla. If they could become as thoroughly acclimated as the common
Pheasant, they would indeed be a superb ornament to our parks and plantations, though perhaps no great acquisidon^o the table.
It is many many years ago since I tasted the Monaul; and, speaking from memory, the flavour appeared to me much the same as that
of Peafowl, the breast being tender and palatable in the young birds, but no part being-fit for any thing but soup in old specimens.
The Monaul lias bred in England, both in the Zoological Gardens of London and in the possession of the Earl of Derby, where
the female is said to have laid on one occasion thirteen or fourteen eggs.”
The species may be described as follows
Male. Head, throat, and fore part of the neck covered with pointed s^ |)|||i!|e feathers, metallic green, with blue reflections ;
a long crest, liaving' the shafts bare of webs unto their tips, where are spatules of metallic green. Back and sides of neck fiery
red, exceedingly brilliant in the sunlight. Mantle metallic green, with the edges o f the feathers: in certain lights red. Wings rich
purple, the. feathers tipped with changeable blue and green. Secondaries purplish brown, the edges metallic green. Primaries dark
brown. Middle of the back white: Upper tail-coverts purple, like the wings, tipped with green. Entirepipderparts black; a
'line o f feathers running along the sides of the neck brilliant green. Under tàil-coverts black, tipped with green. Tail rich tan-
colour. Bill black. Feet and tarsi dark brown.
Fanale. Head and back part of the neck light brown ; each feather margined with dark brown ; throat white.. Wings .and*
mantle black, each feather with two longitudinal stripes of rufous, shafts yellowish white. Rump light reddish-brown, with the
edges of the feathers blackish brown, and a longitudinal stripe of the same. Upper tail-coverts reddish buff, broadly crossed- with
irregular bands of blackish brown. Primaries blackish brown ; secondaries black, with irregular bars of rufous. Tail blapkish
brown, crossed with bars of rufous. Upper part of breast'aind flanks reddish buff, each feather with two longitudinal stripes of
black ; shafts and centres of feathers white. - Abdomen buff, mottled with black, the white : centres more extensive and conspicuous.
Under tail-coverts buff, with black lines, and tipped with white.- Bill horn-colour. Feet and tarsi deep lead-cojour,. Naked skin
of the face restricted, blue.