172 On Phasianus colchicus and its Allies. 



in his monograph of the Phasianidae, and afterwards erro- 

 neously identified with P. chrysomelas of Severtzow {' Stray 

 Feathers/ 1877, p. 198) by that author, although Dr. Scully, 

 a distinguished Indian ornithologist, as remarkable for the 

 excellence of his field-work as for the accuracy of his literary 

 labour, had pointed out (' Stray Feathers,' 1875, p. 433) that 

 the two forms completely intergrade. Severtzow's P. chryso- 

 melas was, unfortunately, described from a mongrel between 

 the true P. chrysomelas (of which there is a fine example in 

 the British Museum, with no trace of a white collar) and 

 P. mongolicus. It is probable that every Pheasant inter- 

 breeds with its nearest allies wherever the respective areas of 

 distribution meet; but the mongrel between P. mongolicus 

 and P. chrysomelas is always distinguishable from the mon- 

 grel between P. mongolicus and P. shawi by the margins of 

 the feathers of the mantle, which are broad and green in 

 the former, and very narrow and black in the latter. The 

 points in which P. insignis is alleged by ElKot to otherwise 

 agree with P. chrysomelas and to diflPer from P. shawi 

 were probably individual peculiarities, as I can detect no 

 trace of any of them in the large series which I have 

 examined. ^ 



The proportion of mongrels to typical examples in the 

 basin of the Kashgar appears to be from 10 to 20 per cent. 



Phasianus chrysomelas. 



This Pheasant is only known from the lower valley of the 

 Amu-Darya, 



It is remarkable for the rich metallic green margins of the 

 feathers of the mantle and tips of those of the underparts. 

 When thoroughbred it has no ring round the neck, but the 

 majority of examples show a more or less perfect approach 

 to the interrupted ring of P. mongolicus. It is not known 

 that intermediate examples between P. chrysomelas and 

 P. principalis occur, though it is possible that P. komarovi 

 of Bogdanow*, from the Kopet-Dagh mountains, may prove 

 to be one of them. 



* [Bull. .\cad. Sci. St. lYter.sb, xxx. p. 356. See Notices, m/rrt.— Edd.] 



