THE TRUE PHEASANTS. 3I 



It docs not differ in voice from P. fon/uafus, and begins to 

 breed very early in spring. We tiave heard it as early as ttie 

 I3tli of I'ebruary." 



XV. stone's PHEASANT. PH AST ANUS EI.EGANS. 



Phasianics elei^cins^ Elliot, Ann. and Mag. N. H. (4) vi. p. 312 

 (1870); id. Monogr. Piiasian. ii. pi. viii. (1872); Ogilvie- 

 Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 329 (1893). 



FJiasianus sladeni, Anderson ]\IS.; Elliot, P. Z. S. 1870, pp. 

 404, 408 ; Anderson, Rcp.Zool. W. Yunnan, p. 671 (1878). 



Adult Male. — In general appearance this species somewhat re- 

 sembles a hybrid between F. co/chiais and F. versicolor. Apart 

 from the general bluish slate-colour of the lower back and rump- 

 feathers, which are ornamented with rather wide sub-terminal 

 dark green bands, and the rust-coloured patches on each side 

 of the rump, it has the lesser and median wing-coverts green- 

 ish-grey ; the chest, upper- and middle-parts of the breast, and 

 the sides of the belly dark greeji; the feathers of the mantle 

 light red with wide dull greenish-bronze margins, and the flank- 

 feathers very similar, but tipped with very dark purplish-green. 

 Total length, 27-5 inches; wing, 9-1 ; tail, 147 ; tarsus, 2-5. 



Adult Female. — Differs chiefly from the female of F. cokhicus 

 in having the throat and fore-part of the neck white, and the 

 chest and rest of the under-parts barred irregularly with black. 

 It nearly resembles the female of F. strauchi, described above. 

 Total length, 21 inches; wing, 7-9; tail, 9*8; tarsus, 2*3. 



Range. — South-western China, Western Sze-chuen, and West 

 Yunnan. 



We can find no record of the habits of this Pheasant ; the 

 two examples sent to the Zoological Gardens by Mr. Stone 

 were obtained in the Yun-ling Mountains, and it was from one 

 of them that Mr. Elliot took his description. Dr. Anderson met 

 with it on the grassy hills in the Momien district of Western 

 Yunnan. 



