44 PHEASANTS 



crooning chuckle to draw their attention 

 to some tit-bit he has discovered. By 

 the end of March his courtship is in full 

 swing : with great dignity of bearing and 

 gait the cock then advances towards the 

 object of his affections : following rigidly 

 the prescribed customs of his kind, there 

 is evident in every detail the intention to 

 impress the magnificence of the male on 

 the female observer. 



As he approaches, every feather is set, 

 the purple ear feathers erect and inclined 

 outwards, the scarlet patch round the eye 

 inflated, the eye itself unusually brilliant, 

 while even the bone of the beak takes on 

 a slightly brighter tint. At the actual 

 moment of display the cock endeavours to 

 dispose himself so that all his beauties 

 may be visible at a single glance. Passing 

 in front of the hen he stops, lowering and 

 extending the wing next her, spreading 

 out the tail and turning it over so as to 

 take the eye, with neck lowered and 

 curved, and head slightly inclined to show 

 the ear ornaments. The hen often keeps 



