90 PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



These are the birds which give us the best sport, and which have 

 from time to time been introduced into Great Britain, so that now, it 

 IS said, it is impossible to lind a pure bred bird in that country. 



The Chinese pheasant is represented by several local races. They 

 are all distinguished by more or less pronounced white collars, exten- 

 sive grey-green upper tail-coverts, orange brown breasts, shot with a 

 purple sheen, and long, barred tails. 



The bird inhabiting North-eastern China has been called Phasianus 

 hiangsuensi, and is characterized by the very broad and complete white 

 collar and a whitish eyebrow. The Yang-tze bird is known as P. 

 torquatus. In this species the white collar is incomplete in front, the 

 sides are very mucli lighter than in the northern bird, while the sheen 

 on the green neck is purple, not green, as in the other. 



In South China the pheasant is represented by P. satscJiennensis. 



In Western Mongolia the species is represented first by P. 

 semitorquatiis, and still further west by the Mongolian pheasant 

 (P. mongolicus), which is characterized by its superior size and 

 white, instead of grey, wing coverts. 



One other true pheasant calls for notice, and that is the famous 

 Beeves* pheasant {Syrmaticus reevesii), which inhabits Central, North- 

 eastern and Western China. This magnificent bird is distinguished by 

 the enormous length of its tail, which reaches five or six feet, and is 

 handsomely barred with black and white. The plumage of the body 

 is of a fine golden yellow, each feather being tipped with black. The 

 head is black and white. I have seen this bird for sale in the Tientsin 

 markets, stripped, of course, of the fine tail feathers, which are highly 

 valued as plumes for a certain warrior character in Chinese theatricals. 



In South and West China occur two very handsome pheasants 

 which, however, can not be included in the true pheasant class. These 

 are the golden pheasant {Cnjsoloplnis pictus) and Lady Amherst's 

 pheasant {C. omlierstiac). These superbly plumaged birds are dis- 

 tinguished by the possession of large brightly marked hoods, which 

 look like capes hanging down from their necks. They also have 

 very long, broad and well marked tails. So bright, are their colours 

 that they look almost artificial. 



Another class of pheasants are those which are included in the 

 genus Pucrasia, to which belong the pucras pheasants, or koklass. 

 These are about the size of the common pheasant, perhaps a little 

 smaller, and are characterized by having short wedge-shaped tails, and 

 long crests ; while the feathers of their backs and necks are long and 

 pointed like those on the neck of the common fowl. They are not 

 brilliantly marked birds, being about tlie least conspicuous of the 



