THE COMMON PHEASANT 



the beak to the tip of the central tail feathers, is 

 about 36 inches, occasionally less, but not as a rule 

 more. 



The extent of the wings is about 3 1 inches, and the girth 

 of each wing (measured midway) 8f inches. Girth around 

 the body about 14 inches, and that around the thighs, 4^ 

 inches. Length of the back, 7 inches ; ditto of the neck, 

 6|- inches. The girth of the skull about 5 inches. The 

 length of the pair of central tail feathers ranges from 18 

 to 24 inches in a full-grown male bird. The bill is a light 

 horn colour, about i inch in length, strong-hooked, with 

 light-brown or flesh-coloured nasal membranes. The 

 papillar or cheek patches are either crimson or bright 

 scarlet according to the season, being of the colour last 

 named during the breeding season. The upper half of 

 the papillar patch has the form of an irregular crescent, 

 broadest in front, extending from the base of the bill to 

 a level of the ears. The lower papillar patch resembles 

 in shape the flap of a spaniel's ear, but is continuous with 

 the upper crescentic portion, with an islet of beetle-green 

 feathers below the eyelids, which latter are flesh coloured, 

 almost circular, but their margin, on close inspection, reveals 

 rudimentary eyelashes, or at any rate dark structures repre- 

 senting such. Each papillar patch is composed of a multitude 

 of conical papillae, regularly interspersed with minute black 

 tufts, arranged in lines. 



The bright scarlet colour is due to the rich blood supply 

 of the papillae, which attain a maximum degree of perfection 

 after the first moult, in young and vigorous birds, during the 

 spring-time. The feathers on the top of the head, excepting 

 a small area above the nasal membranes, are bronze-green, 

 forming a tuft which surrounds the openings of the ears. 

 There is another tuft of fine dark-coloured feathers which, 



25 



