The plumage is of the most varied description, the winter coat of _Lagopus_ being commonly white, the males of _Lyrurus_, _Tetrao_, and _Melanoperdix_ nearly black, while the prevailing colours in _Chrysolophus pictus_ are orange and red, in _Gennaeus nycthemerus_ black and white, in _Rollulus_ dull green and maroon, in _Gallus_ orange, red, purple, green, black, and white, in _Phasianus_ metallic green, orange, and brown. In the _Numidinae_ white or bluish spots mark the blackish ground-colour; in the American Grouse black, brown, yellowish-buff and white occur in varying proportions; while the Partridges and Quails exhibit, as a rule, still more sober tints of brown, relieved by dull red or buff. Peacocks, again, show a combination of beautiful metallic blues and greens with copper and buff, rarely found elsewhere in the Family; nor must _Lophophorus_, _Lophura_, _Lobiophasis_, and _Ceriornis_ be left out of consideration. The ocelli or "eyes" on the Peacock's train hardly require mention; _Polyplectron_ has similar adornments on both the tail and the upper parts in the male, on the tail alone in the female; _Argusianus_ on the secondaries and rectrices in the male, _Meleagris ocellata_ on the latter in both sexes. The feathers of the crown are curled in _Crossoptilon_, _Pavo_, and _Lophophorus sclateri_, and fine crests are by no means uncommon; the component plumes being more or less racquet-shaped in _Lophura_ and _Lophortyx_, and in _Pavo cristatus_ consisting of webs at the end of bare shafts. The crests of _Chrysolophus_ and _Gennaeus_ are recumbent, those of _Rollulus_ and _Rheinardtius_ upright; while, among others, the full head-tufts of _Ithagenes_ and most species of _Lophophorus_, with the comparatively short ornaments of _Haematortyx_, _Ceriornis_, and _Callipepla_ are worth notice. _Crossoptilon_, {201}_Pucrasia_, and _Phasianus_ have elongated ear-coverts or feathers behind the ear, the white plumes of the first-named being especially remarkable and common to both sexes; an erectile cape surmounts the nape in _Chrysolophus_; _Meleagris_ has a peculiar patch of long bristles on the breast, _Bonasa_ a ruff on the sides of the neck; _Gallus_ and _Acryllium_ have hackles or lanceolate feathers in various parts, moulted–in the former at least–during the summer. All these decorations are absent or less pronounced in the females, which are, as a rule, dull in colour.