COMMON PHEASANT. 119 



with green ; the tarsi wood-browTi, the toes darker, the claws 

 of the same tint. 



Length 26 inches ; extent of wings 30 ; wing from flexure 

 94 ; tail Hi ; bill along the back 1^ ; tarsus 2i ; first toe i, 

 its claw ^2 '•> second toe lj%, its claw j% ; third toe 1^§, its 

 claw j\ ; fourth toe l/^, its claw j%. 



Variations. — The Pheasant, like other birds more or less 

 subjected to the direct influence of man, undergoes numerous 

 modifications in the colour of its plumage. The first or 

 slightest change is that in wdiich an incomplete ring of white 

 appears on the neck at the lower margin of its dark-coloured 

 part. This ring may be seen in different states. Sometimes 

 there are merely a few white tips on each side, while in its 

 highest degree two-thirds of the circumference of the neck are 

 marked with a white band, which is broader at its anterior 

 extremities. I am aware of all that has been said on this sub- 

 ject ; but I am perfectly persuaded that all the Ring-necked 

 Pheasants which I have seen Avere merely varieties of the 

 Common Pheasant, and very slight varieties too, the form, 

 size, and plumage being precisely similar. Some waiters, in 

 order to make out a good case, have misrepresented the objects, 

 and put into their specific characters difterences which have no 

 existence. I have therefore selected from among many an in- 

 dividual in perfect condition, that the descriptions of the two 

 may be compared. 



E-iNG-NECKED Pheasant. — The proportions of the parts are 

 precisely the same as in the Common Pheasant. The tarsi 

 have about seventeen scales in each of their anterior series. 

 The first toe has five, the second nine, the third twenty, the 

 fourth seventeen scutella. The spur is conical, blunt, and 

 four-tw^elfths of an inch long. 



The feathers of the upper part of the head are oblong and 

 blended ; of the rest of the head and the upper part of the neck 

 imbricated and rounded ; of the fore-neck and breast broad, 

 slightly emarginate, or abruptly rounded ; of the back broad 

 and rounded ; of the rump elongated, with loose filaments ; 

 of the sides very long ; of the abdomen downy ; of the legs 



