PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



bred for sport. A cross not uncommonly resorted to is that 

 between P. Mongolicus and P. Versicolor, in other words the 

 MongoHan and the Japanese Pheasants are mated, the pro- 

 duct being hybrids both fertile and vigorous, though not 

 equal to that of the Mongolian and Colchic species. 



Hybrids 

 The Ring-Necked Pheasant 



At the present time this hybrid is the commonest in the 

 British game preserves, and has been produced by a com- 

 bination of the Chinese Pheasant i^P. Torquatus) and the 

 black-necked Pheasant {P. Co/chictis). It is a very prolific 

 hybrid, and breeds true to type. On many preserves it has 

 been crossed with the pure Mongolian (/*. Mongolicus), and 

 this has had a salutary effect. The result of this will be in 

 the majority of preserves. Pheasants one third P. Colchicus, 

 another third P. Torquatus, and the remainder P. Mongolicus, 

 a regular triple hybrid, nevertheless by no means despisable 

 birds. 



Macgillivray in vol. i. of British Birds, in speaking of the 

 ring-necked Pheasant, says : 



" The proportions of the parts are precisely the same as 

 in the common Pheasant. The Tarsi have about seventeen 

 scales in each of their anterior series. The first toe has 

 five, the second nine, the third twenty, the fourth seventeen 

 scutella. The spur is conical, blunt, and four-twelfths of an 

 inch long. 



" The feathers of the upper part of the head are oblong 

 and blended ; of the rest of the head and the upper part of 

 the neck, imbricated and rounded ; of the fore-neck and breasts, 



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