204 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



THE COMMON PHEASANT (PHASIANUS 

 GOLGHIGUS). 



ACCORDING to the old writers, this bird has a 

 most remarkable ancestry, as its reputed intro- 

 duction into Europe took place more than a 

 thousand years before the Christian era, whilst its arrival 

 into Britain is said to have been about the time of the 

 First Edward. It has been fostered and preserved, from 

 time almost immemorial, on account of its ease in rearing, 

 the beauty of its plumage, the extreme delicacy of its 

 flesh, and the cover which it gives to the sportsman. Its 

 range is universal in the British Isles, though in Ireland 

 it is certainly not so evenly distributed owing to the lack 

 of preservation. 



In Europe, or wherever they have been introduced, one 

 may notice two birds of different plumage, the one with 

 a conspicuous white ring upon the neck, the other with 

 the ring minus. 



In the preserves at home, in consequence of close 

 breeding, the mark becomes modified or entirely 

 obliterated. Again, the female appears to assume at 

 times an entirely pure white plumage more frequently than 

 the male. Like its neighbour, the partridge, various 

 foreign invigorating strains have been introduced, notably 

 the various European importations. Crosses with the 

 common hen, black grouse, &c, have in many cases 

 proved successful. Coloration of plumage, and the dif- 

 ferentiation, is often attributable to the semi-domestica- 

 tion to which these birds are subjected in the preserves. 

 They are much inclined to become spotted or pied with 

 white, and often show very beautifully contrasted 

 markings. 



Mr. Harwood Brierley says : — 



The prodigious cost of the pheasant-rearing hobby does 

 not decrease. Abundant proof exists that it is firmly 

 established and ot national importance. Had that great 

 naturalised bird, ' ' Phasianus colchicus," and the hand- 



