This pheasant from Borneo was named after Sir Henry Earle Bulwer (1836-1914), Governor of Labuan, who presented the type specimen to the British Museum. In his biographical memoir of Gould, R.B. Sharpe described Gould's excitement when he was shown this unique specimen, 'It was always a real pleasure to see the delight which animated the old naturalist when, in his invalid days, I took him some startling new form of bird, such as Bulwer's Pheasant, to be figured in his 'Birds of Asia'. On the latter occasion he exclaimed that there was only one man in the world who could do justice to such a splendid creature, and that was Mr. Wolf, who at his request at once designed a beautiful picture, which appeared in the 'Birds of Asia'.
Gould was particularly delighted by the pheasant's strong colours, its face and wattles of ultramarine blue, body feathers of maroon or brown with metallic purple edges, white tail and slender bright red legs.
The pheasant depicted is about two-thirds lifesize.
R.B. Sharpe, Analytical Index and Biographical Memoir of the Works of John Gould, 1893
A.H. Palmer, The Life of Joseph Wolf, 1895, p.80
R.B. Sharpe, Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1874, 4th series, XIV, p.373
DISTRIBUTION: Borneo: in Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. Listed as threatened and vulnerable, mainly because of deforestation