THE JAPANESE PHEASANT 



and the common Pheasant, though chiefly with the ring- 

 necked cross, and produced magnificent specimens ; and from 

 the eggs being greatly sought after by other game-keepers in 

 his district, the race soon spread throughout the county." 



From personal observation and inquiry, however, writes 

 Mr Stevenson : — 



" During the last two or three years, it appears, evidences 

 of this cross, even in the coverts where these hybrids were 

 most plentiful, are now scarcely perceptible, the strong char- 

 acteristics of the Chinese birds apparently absorbing all the 

 less marked though darker tints of the Japanese. One of 

 these birds, killed in 1853, weighed upwards of 4 lbs., and 

 m.any examples, which were stuffed for the beauty of their 

 plumage, will be found in the collections of our country 

 gentlemen." 



Tegetmeier seems to think that with the fresh introduction 

 of new blood and care in the preservation of the cross-bred 

 birds, that a permanent race would be established, precisely 

 in the same manner as the ring-necked hybrid, as the two 

 birds, P. Versicolor and P. ^ Torqiiahis, would practically stand 

 in the same degree of relationship. As the author has pre- 

 viously stated, Phasiamis Mongolicus is a much more suitable 

 bird to mate with the Japanese Pheasant, although there is 

 no real necessity, and practically no advantage, excepting that 

 of enhancing beauty of plumage, for the introduction of P. 

 Versicolor into British game preserves. In the aviary, the 

 Japanese is a great ornament, more especially when seen side 

 by side with the Golden Pheasant, and hybrids can be pro- 

 duced from these two birds in spite of the fact that they 

 belong to different genera. 



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