PARTRIDGE 13 



under-parts uniformly dark green : thirdly, the P. torquatus type, with a 

 white ring round the neck, the rump-feathers slate-colour, with a rust- 

 coloured patch on each side, the interscapulars and flanks orange-buff 

 colour, and the bars on the tail broad. Hens of the P. colchicus and 

 P. torquatus types closely resemble one another, the interscapulars having 

 a chestnut ground with black middles and violet and purple tips ; but in 

 the hens of the P. vetsicolor type the feathers of the interscapulars have 

 black middles and green tips. Young birds in first plumage resemble 

 the hens. In the chick the crown of the head is traversed by a 

 brownish-chestnut stripe, bordered on each side by a narrower line, 

 which extends from above the eye to the nape. The middle stripe 

 is continued down the neck and back, where it widens out, and is 

 accompanied by another dark line on each side. The under-parts are 

 pale buff. 



That the British pheasant has been profoundly modified by its 

 semi-domesticated mode of life in the greater part of the kingdom is 

 sufficiently demonstrated by the fact that it is polygamous, whereas 

 in all wild members of the group the cock pairs with a single hen. 

 In this respect the British pheasant has undergone a development 

 analogous to that which has occurred in the case of the domesticated 

 duck. As regards food, pheasants are practically omnivorous, devouring 

 almost anything from grain to wire-worms, of which latter they consume 

 large quantities. They dwell and breed in thick covert, roosting in the 

 boughs of trees ; the cocks, when retiring to rest, and again at dawn, 

 uttering the well-known crow which too often betrays the whereabouts 

 of these birds to the poacher. The nest, which is formed mainly of 

 leaves, is placed on the ground ; and the eggs are usually olive-brown 

 in colour, although they may vary from dark cream-colour through 

 brown to greenish white or greenish blue. Although in this country 

 the hen pheasant is a bad mother, she is always careful to cover up 

 her eggs when leaving the nest. Incubation lasts about tw^enty-four 

 days, and two or three hens may lay in the same nest. The average 

 weight of cocks has been estimated at from 3 to 3^ lbs., and that of 

 hens at 2^ lbs., but very much greater weights may be obtained by 

 special feeding. Pheasant-shooting lasts from October i to February i ; 

 and " bouquet " is the correct term to apply to a party of these bird.s. 



Partridffe ^^ ^^^ pheasant is essentially a bird of the thick 



(Perdix einerea). covert, and the cock has consequently been enabled 



to flaunt a gorgeous livery for the delectation of his 



partner without fear that its brilliance should betray him when at rest. 



