Argus pheasant

“ Within this concavity lie the ocelli, in radiating vertical rows. But to produce this effect the bird has to turn its head under its wing, so that it lies behind the screen. Hence it cannot see the female which is the object of these captivating antics. As a consequence, to discover whether he has an audience for she will often walk disdainfully away—he has constantly to thrust his head through the curtain, and hence many of the feathers in this region get much worn.
By nature it would seem the Argus Pheasant is a very solitary bird, though we must assume it is polygamous. ”

“ The Argus Pheasant is said to be found in the woods of Sumatra, and is called by the natives Coo-ow, or Kuaow. It does not bear long confinement, and seems to have an antipathy to the light, remaining inanimate during the day. When kept in a dark place, however, it appears to be perfectly at ease, and sometimes utters the note or call from which it takes its name. This cry is rather plaintive, and not harsh like that of the Peacock. The flavour of its flesh resembles that of the Common Pheasant. ”

“ It is known by a variety of names, Firinghī dhatūra, gamboge thistle, &c. [See Watt, Dict. Econ. Prod., i. 306 seqq.] ARGUS PHEASANT, s. This name, which seems more properly to belong to the splendid bird of the Malay Peninsula (Argusanus giganteus, Tem., Pavo argus, Lin.) , is confusingly applied in Upper India to the Himālayan horned pheasant Ceriornis (Spp. satyra, and melanocephala) from the round white eyes or spots which mark a great part of the bird's plumage.—See remark under MOONAUL. ”

“ If we might have feathers set in handles designed in the sumptuous manner of these early fans, well and good; if we could have the sticks of the folding-fans more in keeping with the sumptuous nature of the feather, well also, though not quite so good; but the ever-present question of cost must always remain a determining factor.
The feathers of other birds have also been, and are at present, employed for the purposes of the fan; in this connection the charming Chinese fan at South Kensington of the feathers of the Argus pheasant may be cited. ”

“ If a rare and quarrelsome male pheasant dies unexpectedly, it is not always possible to fill the vacancy on short notice.
Out of the half-dozen species which claim first place in an enumeration based on beauty and luxuriance of plumage—the 158 Amherst, Reeve, golden, silver, impeyan, Argus or Soemmerring—it is difficult to choose. Each has its share of strong points, and it seems as if there is no “finest of all.” Let us take them as they come to mind, for by reason of the changes so often necessary in the runways, it is inexpedient to attempt an end-to-end enumeration. ”

“ These birds are continually seen, especially at the back of Landowr. A pair of the Loonjee, the red, or Argus pheasants of the Himalaya, have been given me: the bird has a black top-knot, and the neck below has a most peculiar skin over it; beyond which are crimson feathers, bright as gold; the breast is covered with feathers, half red, half black, and in the centre of the black, [275] which is at the end of the feather, is a white eye. The feathers on the back are of a game brown, tipped with black, in which is also the white spot: these birds are very rare and very valuable. ”

“ What with the showering of leaves and the crashing of shot-pruned boughs and dead wood, he may imagine that a pheasant must be an extra heavy bird—only to find that not a feather has been touched. To shoot pheasants among a crowd of leafy oaks is no simple matter—it is more difficult than to shoot a rocketer in the open valley. ”

“ In rides where the old underwood stumps have not been grubbed, pheasants love to nest on the stumps' tops. In spite of annual trimming, the stumps for years continue to throw up a mass of leafy shoots. The pheasant creeps between them, and is perfectly hidden—at least, as to her head and body. We recall a nest in such a spot within a foot of a path where many people passed daily. Not one discovered the pheasant's secret, except a keeper who saw her protruding tail. ”

“ These they learnt were called gold pheasants. The silver pheasants were very handsome, although not quite so showy. They were of a clear white, streaked likewise with purple on the neck and breast. The common pheasant was not equal in beauty to these; but it had notwithstanding a great variety of colours, and was remarkably brilliant.
“What do you feed them with?” asked Charles.
“Ants’ eggs and curds are most proper for them,” said Peggy: “but they will eat oats and barley; and [101] they pick up wood-lice, and earwigs, and other insects.” ”

“ Wire netting is the cause of many a tragedy to young pheasants. One may see it stretching for miles on the fringe of woods as a fence against rabbits. Suppose a hen pheasant, with her brood, has been making an excursion to the fields. She comes to the wire and finds her return passage barred. Seeing that most of her little ones have wriggled through the meshes, the mother flies over, and goes on. But as often as not she leaves behind her one or two chicks, and these the flower of her flock—for they are the ones so well grown as to be just too large to pass through the meshes. ”

“ He knows that a pheasant, if you can get close enough to it before it rises, is a clumsy bird, and large enough to offer a fair mark, and may be brought down with a stout stick dexterously thrown. As very probably the pheasant is a young one and (not yet having undergone its baptism of fire) only recently regularly fed, it is almost tame and may be approached without difficulty. ”

“ There are many other species of Pheasants, distinguished by some peculiarity of the plumage, but there is no special difference in their habits.
In the wild state the Pheasants prefer wooded slopes or marshy plains, and their food is composed of grains, berries, Worms, Insects, Snails, etc. They are shy and timid in their nature, taking flight at the least indication of danger. They make their nest on the ground in the midst of a thicket, or in a tuft of grass, and the hen Pheasant lays from twelve to twenty eggs, which require twenty-four days to hatch. ”

“ Other creatures may die of starvation in time of snow; but the fox then finds his prey with greatest ease. Cubs are weaned about the middle of May, and must be fed on flesh, when a majority of pheasants are sitting. And when a sitting pheasant is scented or seen by a vixen in search of food for her cubs, that pheasant, you may say, is dead. The keeper, though his blood boils afresh at each nesting tragedy—at the sight of the strewn feathers of the hen pheasant and at the cold touch of the lifeless eggs—appreciates the deftness of the marauder's work. ”

“ Imagine the waiter's triumphant entrance into the dining-room, platter held aloft, and the pheasant's brilliant tail feathers streaming far behind like pennants from a mast top!
The pheasant most easily grown in the United States is the ringneck or Mongolian pheasant imported from its home in China. There is hardly a state in the Union where no attempt has been made to raise pheasants. ”

“ The bird feeds on wild fruits, particularly the berry of the sacacommis, and exclusively resides in that portion of the Rocky mountains watered by the Columbia.
2. The small speckled pheasant resides in the same country with the foregoing, and differs only in size and colour. He is half the size of the black and white pheasant, associates in much larger flocks, and is very gentle: the black is more predominant, and the dark brown feathers less frequent in this than in the larger species: the mixture of white is more general on every part. ”

“ The best-known of these so-called species interbreed freely. The rare kinds have not been sufficiently tested, either with common kinds or with one another, to show whether they are species or merely varieties. The European pheasants, descended from the stocks which came in early times from Western Asia, are called by various names—Common Pheasant, Darknecked Pheasant, English Pheasant, and Hungarian Pheasant. Two kinds of pheasants, of the same type but having more distinctive color markings, have in recent times been brought from Eastern Asia. ”

“ After it has learned to fly, it is still very helpless and baby-like, and very different from the active, bright-eyed, independent little chick of the barn-yard; and, indeed, the young of all the Rasores, or scratching birds, such as the hen, the quail, the partridge, the pheasant and the turkey. In the admirable picture of an English pheasant and its brood, on page 610, you will see how very much like young chicks the young pheasants are.
ENGLISH PHEASANT AND YOUNG.
The scratching birds are not the only ones which can take care of themselves at an early age. ”

“ The pheasant is in many respects a very curious bird. At the threshold of life, it exhibits, in common with some of its near relations, a precocity very unusual in its class; and the readiness with which pheasant chicks, only just out of the egg, run about and forage for themselves, is astonishing to those unused to it. Another interesting feature about pheasants is the extraordinary difference in plumage between the sexes, a gap equalled only between the blackcock and greyhen and quite unknown in the partridge, quail and grouse. ”

“ But if he had ever seen such a sight as this, when, in addition to all those which have been already eaten, a pheasant is also placed before each individual, he would have added another book to the existing twenty-four of that celebrated history, which he calls his Memorabilia. And Aristotle or Theophrastus, in his Commentaries, says, "In pheasants, the male is not only as much superior to the female as is usually the case, but he is so in an infinitely greater degree." ”

“ The monks who feed them think that they are inhabited by the spirits of the blest. Where the snow melts in the pine-forests and leaves soft patches and moist earth, you will find the blood-pheasant. When you disturb them they will run up the hillside and call vociferously from their new hiding-place, so that you may get another shot. Pheasant-shooting here is not sport; the birds seldom rise, and when they do it is almost impossible to get a shot at them in the thick jungle. One must shoot them running for the pot. ”

“ Pheasants are very good to eat, but sportsmen are not allowed to shoot them until the 1st of October, in order that they may have time to rear their young. In ancient times the pheasant was held in reverence by the heathen, and it was only on the most [82] solemn occasions that they were used as food, and then only by the emperors of Rome. There are no pheasants in America, and, on account of their short wings and heavy bodies, they never fly from one country to another. But they increase very rapidly in number, a single pair having been known to produce as many as 183 eggs in a season. ”

“ Their brilliant tints excite more admiration in vulgar minds than the delicate pencilling of the silver pheasant, or the less gaudy but more elegant tinting of plumage in the Reeves’s, or the ring-neck pheasants. The painted pheasant is called Kum, kai, [22] or Kin, kai, by the Chinese: the eggs of the bird are described as being white, with brown spots. These beautiful birds are brought from the districts of Che, Kien, and Keang, nan. ”

“ The birds' legs and feet have sinews which work an automatic- 35 - locking action of the claws, so that, roosting with knees doubled up, the feet grip the branch unfailingly. On rough nights, the pheasants take the precaution of roosting in lower branches than usual. If a strong gale springs up after a bird has gone to roost on an exposed tree, it may be driven to seek a berth on the ground—and to the wind that does no good to the pheasant the passing fox owes his supper. ”

“ In the coverts the bird is still the same creature of impulse. If you make a noise, he will run before you, for he understands perfectly well what is making the noise; but if you move forward silently, and come upon the pheasant unawares, he will not run, but will either crouch and sit tight, or fly, and very likely go back over the head of his disturber. Indeed, it is generally as easy to guide a lot of pheasants as a motor car, and much more so when the latter skids. Pheasants do not skid; they do nothing for nothing, and everything is done for a very good reason. ”

“ The pheasant being so large a bird, its motions are easy to watch; and the nest is speedily found, because, being in the hedge or under bushes, there is a definite place in which to look, instead of the broad surface of the field. Pheasants will get out of the preserves in the breeding season and wander into the mounds, so that the space the keeper has to range is then enlarged threefold. Both pheasants and partridges are frequently killed on their nests; when the eggs are hard the birds remain to the last moment, and are often knocked over. ”

“ And some said, "Never was such a gathering of the heroes since the Hellenes conquered the land." But the women sighed over them, and whispered, "Alas! they are all going to the death."
Then they felled the pines on Pelion, and shaped them with the axe, and Argus taught them to build a galley, the first long ship which ever sailed the seas. They pierced her for fifty oars, an oar for each hero of the crew, and pitched her with coal-black pitch, and painted her bows with vermilion; and they named her Argo after Argus, and worked at her all day long. ”

“ I fancy she was rather taken aback when I turned into Tilgate Forest. It was pitch dark, and the walking was not too smooth. The game seemed wide awake. We could hear the rustling of unseen feet, the hurtling of unseen wings. Once we flushed a pheasant right from beneath our feet. A startled cock-pheasant is not the quietest of birds, but I don't think I ever heard one make such a noise as that bird did then. ”