Tin: C.OLBEX PHEASANT. 413 



TliLsu buds pair about the cud of April. \Vlieii the female has sufficient liberty, she 

 attends very assiduously to her brood. The incubation lasts twenty-six days. The 

 number of the eggs varies from eight to fourteen. Their colour is yellowish-red, often 

 borderuig on black, and they have small brown points. 



This pheasant inhabits the northern regions of the vast empire of China. It has been 

 transplanted into almost all the countries of Europe, where, with a little care, it thrives 

 perfectly well. It is more easily tamed than the common pheasant, and its young ones 

 are reared with less difficulty. 



THE GOLDEN PHEAS.^NT.* 



Tlio Golden Pheasant is derived from China. Its name there is said by Latham to be 

 .' Kinki," or " Kiuker," which signifies " Golden-flower Fowl." It is a favourite in that 

 country, as may be seen by its frequent occurrence in Chinese paintings. 



In this country this bird has hitherto been preserved only in aviaries, where it is 

 shielded from the cold of winter and supplied with food. In captivity it breeds freely. 

 It is one of a race remarkable for beaut j'. 



The golden pheasant is much smaller than the common one. The length of the male 

 is about three feet, of which the tail measures twenty-three inches. The head is orna- 

 mented with a beautiful silky crest, of a fine amber-j^ellow. The feathers of the back of 

 the head and neck are of a rich orange-red, edged with a line of black, and capable of 

 being raised at will. Lower down, so as to lie on the top of the back, the feathers are 

 glossy greenish-black. The back is rich yellow ; the wings deep blue at their base, the 

 under surface intense scarlet. 



It is chiefly the want of the comb, the peculiar covering of the cheeks, and the 

 remarkable form of the tail, that distinguish the present group from the genus Galhis, 

 comprehending the numerous species and varieties of domesticated fowls. From this 

 hardy race the pheasants differ still more in constitution and habits than in external 

 characters, seldom breeding in captivity, unless under the most favourable circumstances, 

 and manifesting an excessive sensibility to the impressions of a variable atmosphere and 

 the influence of a northern climate. The usual attitudes of the birds are extremely 

 different : the cock elevating his head to the full stretch of his neck, with a haughty and 

 independent air ; while the pheasant projects it forwards in an almost horizontal position, 

 scarcely raising it above the le\el of his body. 



In the female, as is usual in this tribe of birds, the colours are far less splendid than 

 those of the male. The upper parts are of a rusty-brown, varying in intensity ; the 

 under surface is marked with spots of a deep brown on a lighter ground ; the throat is 

 nearly white ; the wings are transversely barred with black ; and tl^e tail, which is 

 considerably shorter than that of the male, is variegated like the wings. 



JIuch of the difficulty, as well as much of the tenderness of constitution, manifested by 

 these birds is attributed by M. Temminck to the close confinement in which they are 

 usually kept, and to the very precautions which are taken to preserve them from the 

 effects of cold. lie advises that they shoxdd be gradually habituated, lilvc the more 

 common race, to the large pheasantries in which the latter are preserved, and doubts not 

 that, as they multiplied under such circumstances, they would become more and more 

 hardy, until at last they would be fully capable of supporting the cold of oui- northern 

 winters. The experiment, ho tells ms, has already been made in Germany, where they 

 have been kept at perfect liberty in an open pheasantrj^, in company with the common 

 species, and suffered no greater inconvenience than the latter from the change of seasons. 



• Pbasiauuii I'ictus. -Linn. 



