THE PHEASANT FAMILY 25 



Lastly, the subject of this eulogy may 

 claim to be a bird of singular activity. 

 Only by seeing a pinioned Prince of 

 Wales struggling to fly can the height 

 to which he can rise off the ground be 

 believed. Colonel Sunderland pinioned 

 his young birds, leaving only two flight 

 feathers. Thus equipped they flew with 

 ease, and even when the remaining flight 

 feathers were removed, some were still 

 found to clear ten feet of wire, and get 

 shot with the other pheasants. 



The last member of our group is 

 the Reeves or Bar -tailed pheasant, first 

 brought to this country by Mr. Reeves, 

 a China merchant, in 1831. It is quite 

 distinct in appearance from the rest of 

 the pheasants. The cock is a magnificent 

 bird : head and neck white, with a broad 

 black band round the eyes ; back and 

 breast bright Chinese yellow strongly 

 pencilled with black, under-parts black : 

 his boldly -barred tail, white, chestnut, 

 and black, is some five times the length 

 of his body : measurement from beak 



