NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXIV. 1917. 445 



It was hrouglit alive to the Zoological Gardens in London, where it died, from 

 "Afghan Turkestan," whatever that may mean. The question must remain 

 open, so far, whether this bird is a separate subspecies, or a hybrid between 

 hianchii and znrudniji (or " gordius "). 



1. Phasianus colchicus strauchi. 



Since 1JS70, when P. slmnchi was first described, from Tatuug and i>uhuk- 

 gol in Kansu, three more forms have been named from Kansu ; all these are, 

 in my opinion, synonyms, i.e. : 



Phasianus holdcreri Sclialo^\-, Jourii. /. Orn. 1901. p. lit. \)\. 1, from .Alint- 

 chou, S.W. Kansu ; 



Phasianus herezowskiji Rothschild, Bull. B.U. Club, xii. p. 'M. 11)01, from 

 Hui-Tsian or Hoi-Sian in S.E. Kansu ; and 



Pha.siamis strauchi chonensis Ogilvie-Grant, Bull. BO. Club, xxxi. p. 10. 

 1912, from the Tau River in Chone, S.E. Kansu. 



At the same time, considering the few specimens which Schalow, Roth- 

 schild, and Ogilvie-Grant had at their disposal for comparison, it is quite 

 comprehensible and excusable that they should have thought to have new 

 forms before them, though the two first authors might have been cautioned 

 by the fact that they had only one single specimen of their supposed new 

 species, and all three came from the area inhabited by strauchi, or not far away. 

 The description of holdereri has only about a month priority over that of 6ere- 

 zowskyi. P. holdereri was chiefly separated from straiichi on account of its 

 wide white collar and lighter upperside, sides of breast, and tail, and it was 

 supposed to stand between P. torquatus and strauchi. 



P. berezowskyi was se25arated from strauchi because of its much lighter 

 Hanks and " bright shining golden-brown chest and breast," and some minor 

 supposed differences. 



Of " P. strauchi chonensis," Mr. Ogilvie-Grant, the author, had live or six 

 to compare, and they certainly differ from the other sjiecimens of strauchi 

 in the British Museum, which were collected by Russian explorers farther 

 north in Kansu, by the bronze-gold tinge on the mantle, the dark greenish 

 bronze-red margins of the scapulars, and in Mr. Ogilvie-Grant's opinion also 

 in the wider bars across the tail-feathers. 



None of the characters on which the authors relied is constant, and strauchi 

 is altogether a rather variable bird. I should not have been so confident and 

 so sure about this, if we had not received from the late Alan Owston's Japanese 

 collectors a series of not less than 28 adult males — from Ta-pai-shan in the 

 centre of the Tsin-ling Range. This magnificent series, which I have been 

 able to comjjare with twelve others in the Tring and British Museums, shows 

 quite clearly how strauchi varies. 



The crown of the head is sometimes quite brownish bronzy, but mostly 

 of a dark green. 



The white collar on the hind-neck is sometimes more than a centimetre 

 wide and only interrupted in front, more often narrower and only indicated, 

 and also often quite absent, without a trace of it. 



The whole upperside varies in colour, more or less, the rumjj chiefly accord- 

 ing to season, as the green and creamy bars of the feathers become much more 

 conspicuous after the breeding season, when the edges are worn off. The 



