EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 275 



found in which the spots are principally very small and so evenly 

 distributed over the entire surface of the egg as to conceal the 

 ground-colour. The eggs vary in length from 2 - 35 to 2'0 inches, 

 and in breadth from 1'7 to 15 inch, and resemble very closely 

 those of the Black Grouse, but may be distinguished by their 

 larger size. 



FAMILY PHASIANID.E, 

 OR PHEASANTS AND PARTRIDGES. 



THE PHEASANT. 



{Phasianus colchicus.) 

 Plate 59, Fig 9. 



The Common Pheasant has been acclimatized in most parts of 

 Europe ; but its true home appears to be in the extreme west of 

 Asia, in the western portions of the basin of the Caspian Sea, and 

 the southern and eastern portions of the Black Sea. In a wild 

 state it is a common resident in the valleys of the Caucasus up to 

 an elevation of 3,000 feet ; along the shores of the Caspian from 

 the delta of the Volga in the north to as far east as Asterabad on 

 the southern shores ; in the northern parts of Asia Minor as far 

 south asEphesus; and, curiously enough, on the Island of Corsica. 



Each female makes her own nest, though it is not improbable, 

 where the eggs are large in number, that two birds lay in the 

 same nest. It is usually placed amongst fern, under brushwood 

 and brambles, and amongst the herbage in the fields and hedges. 

 It is a very simple structure, a slight hollow lined with a few 

 leaves and bits of herbage. In this the female lays from eight to 

 twelve eggs, though in some cases as many as sixteen or twenty 

 are found. They are generally brown or olive-brown, but many 

 examples are bluish-green, and one in my collection, taken in 

 Northumberland from a clutch of the usual colour, is a delicate 

 greenish-blue, almost the colour of a Starling's egg ; they are 

 always unspotted ; the shell is smooth and rather polished, but 

 full of minute pits. They vary in length from 1*9 to 1 75 inch, 

 and in breadth from 145 to 1"35 inch. 



