PHEASANT. 189 



objectionable in the Ring-necked, and some other varieties of 

 Pheasant. It is a late breeder, the hens lay freely, and in confine- 

 ment each hen will produce forty eggs on the average. The cock 

 will cross readily with the common Pheasant, if hens of his own 

 variety are not present, and the cross is a bird of brilliant plumage, 

 of greater size, and of more tender and well-flavoured flesh on the 

 table than the ordinary Pheasant. The versicolor Pheasant is 

 well established in several English coverts, and shot with the more 

 common ones. It has been introduced in the Rotherwas woods 

 by Joseph Harrison, Esq. 



Reeves' Pheasant, Phasianus reevesi, is another most desirable 

 variety. It was introduced by Mr. Reeves into Europe in 1831, 

 from China, but it is only within the last few years that it has been 

 re-introduced successfully. It is a magnificent bird, much larger 

 than the common Pheasant, and with a tail four or five feet in 

 length and sometimes longer. It is bright in colour. The top of 

 its head is white, surrounded by a black band, and it has a broad 

 band of white round its neck. The feathers of the back and 

 upper part of the breast are golden-yellow, margined by black ; 

 the lower breast-feathers are white, with the same margin; the 

 under parts of the body black. It comes from a cold country, 

 and will stand the hardest winter. It breeds freely, and is wild 

 and shy enough to take care of itself. It rises readily with great 

 strength of flight, and makes an excellent " rocketer." 



Reeves' Pheasant breeds freely in Lord Tweedmouth's coverts 

 at Guisachan, Inverness, and crosses readily with the ordinary 

 Pheasant when his own hens are absent. The young birds arrive 

 quickly at maturity, and when bred with other Pheasants, their 

 more rapid growth and greater size are quickly apparent. 



Fine specimens of the cock and hen Reeves' Pheasant are 

 now in the Hereford Museum. 



The call-note of Reeves' Pheasant is of a most unexpected 

 character, more like the simple song of a small bird, delivered in 

 as high a key as the song of the Hedge-Sparrow, Accentor vwdularis 



