320 BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



rapid succession of five or six flaps, which are audible for some 

 distance. Leffingwell (1928) states that 



the wings are held rather stiffly and the force of the beat is directed upwards 

 and inwards, somewhat after the manner of a drumming partridge. The two 

 preliminary wing beats are given at intervals of about one twenty-fifth of a 

 second, while those given after the call begin very rapidly but soon diminish 

 in vigor. The force of the latter strokes seem to push the pheasant backwards 

 against its tail, which is partly flattened on the ground and acts as a brace. 



Crowing is, of course, commonest in the spring of the year, and 

 I have heard one crowing on a pleasant day as early as mid-January. 

 The birds are generally silent in the summer months, but they are 

 often heard again in October. The young are said to attempt to 

 crow when 7 or 8 weeks old. 



Besides the crow, the alarm notes, emitted when the birds are 

 startled, are most commonly heard. These are loud and hoarse croak- 

 ings, which they emit as they fly away, sometimes in two or three 

 syllables, written cuck-et or tuck-ee-tuck, sometimes a prolonged 

 and scolding repetition of croaking notes. These croaking notes, 

 suggestive at times of an old domestic hen, may also be given when 

 the bird is on the ground. I have heard a cock pheasant in a small 

 thicket croaking continuously, owing apparently to irritation caused 

 by crows who were scolding him from the trees above. I have also 

 heard a querulous queep, queep, queep given by a hen pheasant. 

 I once disturbed a hen pheasant in feeding, and she looked up in 

 time to see a fox creeping toward her from the other side. The 

 pheasant at once flew off uttering a whistling shriek, and the fox, 

 interrupted in his turn, also departed. Millais (1909) says that "the 

 cock pheasant when he has paired or gathered his wives, makes use 

 of a gentle note or chuckle." 



The young have a variety of notes. Leffingwell (1928) lists five 

 distinct calls in birds up to 7 weeks of age — calls expressive of con- 

 tentment, caution, alarm and fright, and the flock call. 



Field marks. — The cock pheasant, with his resplendent plumage, 

 white neck ring, and long tail, is easily identified. The hen and 

 young might be mistaken for ruffed grouse except for the much 

 longer tails. 



Game. — The cock pheasant is a prize well calculated to delight the 

 heart of the sportsman. Splendid in plumage — a magnificent 

 trophy — large and heavy, and delicious eating, it tests his skill to 

 the utmost. In game preserves in England, numerous beaters drive 

 the pheasants to the quiescent sportsmen and force the birds to fly 

 high and at great speed over them. In this country, the sportsman 

 seeks the bird, going on foot over the fields and shooting the pheas- 

 ant as it flushes and makes off. Dogs are generally used, and al- 

 though the pheasant often lies close to the pointing dogs and allows 



