CHAPTER X 



Hagen beck's Pheasant {Phasianus Hagenbecki) 



Hagenbeck's Pheasant is an extremely handsome species, 

 resembling in many respects the Chinese Pheasant (/*. Tor- 

 quatus), and is a native of the Kobdo Valley in North-west 

 Mongolia. There is every reason to believe that if these 

 birds were introduced into British game preserves, they 

 would cross with P. Colchiciis and produce hybrids precisely 

 allied to the ring-necked birds. 



The length of the bird, as measured from beak to tip of 

 tail, is a little over a yard, and the average weight, 2>k '^^• 

 At the base of the neck there is a white collar, rather 

 broader than that in P. Torqiiatus. The crown is green, but 

 not the same olive-green as in the Chinese Pheasant. The 

 feathers on the back and rump have a creamy tint, with 

 transverse bands, similar to that in P. Torquatjis, though, 

 perhaps, of a more mottled character. 



The lower wing coverts are a light grey, inclined to blue. 

 In addition to these distinctions, there are others of minor 

 importance most strikingly manifest when the two birds are 

 side by side. As the name implies, Hagenbeck's Pheasant 

 is called after Carl Hagenbeck, though it is rather singular 

 that such a useful species as this should not have been freely 

 imported into Great Britain, as it certainly is eminently 

 suited for introduction into British game preserves. 



It should make a good cross with Mongolictis, yet the 

 introduction of so many different species into a covert is not a 



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