6 PHEASANTS 



species enumerated are named and ar- 

 ranged from standard works on ornitho- 

 logy, and the apparent official look of 

 a regular table is due solely to a desire 

 to facilitate reference and comparison, 

 which becomes difficult when the matter 

 is merged in the general body of the text. 



Scientists into whose hands this book 

 may chance to fall will doubtless find sins 

 alike of commission as of omission ; we 

 have no part in their bewildering contro- 

 versies, only wishing to give, as matter of 

 some interest to those who have chiefly 

 to deal with pheasants in their relations 

 to sport, a rough and ready guide to the 

 various members of the family, with some 

 clue to the differences by which they may 

 be distinguished, and a note of whence 

 they came. 



It would be quite beside the mark, in 

 a work of this nature, to embark on any 

 attempt to describe the plumage of the 

 pheasant ; nor in any case do the intricacies 

 of colour his brilliant garb presents admit 

 of clear rendering in words. Unfortu- 



