ARGUS, Tem. Vieill. PHASIANUS, Lin. Lath.
Bill longer than the head, compressed, straight, with the base naked, the maxilla arched, and bent down to wards the tip; nostrils lateral, placed in the middle of the maxilla, and half closed by the membrane ; side of the head and the neck, featherless ; feet, four-toed, slender ; tarsi smooth ; tail ascending, compressed, with twelve feathers, of which the two middle in the male are clongtt __ ed. This genus, which has been recently detached from PhaRicolus, is, moreover, distinguished by having the se condary wing feathers much larger than the primaries.
A. giganteus, Tem. A. pavonius, Vicill. Phasianue argus, Lin. Lath. Gigantic Argus, Argus Pheasant, Argus, or Luen. Lower parts of the neck and under parts of the body, red brown, striped with black ; back and tail-coverts yellowish, and marked with rounded brown spots ; se condary feathers with many eyelets, vcbs and quills blue, and the tail brown-black, spotted with white. The female is brown-black, spotted with yellow and brown, with the webs of the quills blue-black, and the two long feathers without spots. The details of colouring in this beautiful and rarc bird, though not particularly brilliant, are finely varied, and, on account of the numerous and well defined spots which they exhibit, have been compared to the eyes on the peacock's tail. The size of the body nearly cor responds with that of the turkey hen ; but the total length, including that of the intermediate tail feathers, is five feet three inches, the tail feathers alone measuring three feet eight inches, whereas the female, though of nearly as large a body, is only twenty-six inches long, her tail being much shorter than that of the male. When the cock struts in presence of his mate, he lets down his wings nearly to the ground, and erects his tail in the form of a fan ; but, when he is tranquil, the latter assumes the form of two vertical planes adjected to each other. In Sumatra, where this bird is far from uncommon, it is called Coo-ow, from its cry ; and, in Chinese Tartary, it is named Luen. Its European name, Argus, is obviously derived from the nu merous eye-like spots, scattered over its plumage, in al lusion to the hundred eyes of the unfortunate guardian of Io ; and, as the fable attributes this multiplicity of the or gans of vision to the intervention of Juno, the Argus has likewise been called the Junonian pheasant. Besides the countries which we have already mentioned, it occurs in Pegu, Siam, and Malacca. In its manners it is extremely shy, being seldom captured alive, and is so impatient cf confinement, that it pines and dies in the short space of a month. Its cry is as loud as that of the peacock, and somewhat plaintive ; and its flesh is as savoury as that of the common pheasant. Its eyes are dazzled by the light of day, when it appears dull and stupid ; but it is very ac tive in the dark.
Tern. Lin. &c. PSNTADO.
Bill thickened, arched, and base covered with a warted membrane, and a carunculated wattle hanging from the under mandible ; nostrils situated in the *cere, and half covered by a cartilage ; head naked, crown with a callous horn or strong crest ; feet four-toed, smooth ; tail short, bent down, and consisting of fourteen or sixteen feathers.
The species belonging to this genus are originally natives of Africa and the neighbouring islands, have the manners of domestic poultry, except that they are less assiduous than some of the other tribes in rearing their young, and have been multiplied, for the use of the table, in various districts of Europe, Asia, and America.
N. meleagrisLin. Scc. Guinca Pintado. or Guinea Fowl. Body grey-blue, sprinkled with small white spots; head and upper part of the neck naked, a conical tubercle, with its tip reflected on;he crown, and a broad geminated membrane near the 'gape. The variety f3 of Latham and others, has the breast white, and a of Temminck, and y of some authors, has the whole body whitish, with rounded white spots. Other varieties also occur, and a hybrid has been produced between a male pintado and a domestic hen. The young are pretty birds, somewhat resembling red partridges at an early age. The adult male is bigger than a large cock, and measures twenty-two inches in length. His loose wattle is of a bluish colour, but that of the female is red.
In a wild state, these birds associate in numerous flocks, manifesting a partiality to marshy and morassy situations, where they subsist almost wholly on insects, worms, and seeds, laying about eight eggs, but probably breeding more than once in the year. In Numidia, and many of the scorching districts of Africa, they fly in troops during the day, and perch on trees at night. According to Nie buhr, they abound in the fertile plains of Arabia, and are so numerous near Tahama, that the children knock them down with stones, and sell them in the town. Transported to America by the Genoese in 1508, they have greatly multiplied, and become so habituated to the climate, that, in the Spanish possessions, they roam at liberty in the midst of the woods and savannahs. Notwithstanding the great heat of their native country, they sustain, without injury, the cold of our northern latitudes, and might possibly be as successfully introduced into our woods and parks as the pheasant ; but it is troublesome to induce them to in cubate and rear their young in the poultry-yard, as they frequently desert their charge, and drop their eggs under hedges, or in other concealed places. When plentifully fed, the hen pintado will lay about a hundred eggs, if care be always taken to leave one in the nest. These eggs are smaller than those of the common fowl, of a rounder form, reddish-white, obscurely freckled with a darker co lour, and are reckoned a delicate morsel. As ancient and modern epicures have vaunted the flavour of this species, it has been reared for the table in all ages, and frequently by the intervention of the common, or of the turkey hen, either of which proves a more vigilant and careful nurse than the female pintado.