228 PHEASANT.

wooded tracts only produce them in abundance, and they
mostly frequent the thickest and most impenetrable
coverts, or such as are covered with long grass, which
the female generally makes choice of to deposit her eggs
in, scraping together a few surrounding dry vegetables
for a nest, and laying from eight to twelve eggs. The
male is frequently heard to crow in spring, clapping his
wings at the same time.”

_ Some of the rarer species of pheasant are kept in
aviaries in this country. The Golden Pheasant, a native
of China, remarkable for the beauty of its plumage, is
distinguished by a crest upon the head, which can be
raised at pleasure. The prevailing colours of the body
are red, yellow, and blue. The iris, bill, and legs are
yellow. The tail is longer and more richly tinted than
that of the common species; and from above it arise a
number of long, straight feathers, of a scarlet hue, mixed
with yellow. Another fine species found in China is the
Silver Pheasant. This bird is of a silvery white-colour, -
with very delicate black lines on each feather, and black
on the under part of the body. But the most splendid
of all is the Argus Pheasant. This species, which is
as large as a turkey, is an inhabitant of the mountains
of Sumatra, and of some other of the Indian islands.
The male has a very long tail; the feathers of the
wings are large and long; and both are thickly covered
with ocellate spots.