32 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORV. 



XVL THE JAPANESE PHEASANT. PHASL\NUS VERSICOLOR. 



Phasianus ve?'stcoIor, Vieill. Gal. Ois. ii. p. 23, pi. 205 (1825) ; 

 Temm. PI. Col. v. pis. 6 and 7 [Nos. 486, 493] (1830) ; 

 Cassin, Perry's Exp. Jap. ii. p. 223, pi. i (1856); Gould, 

 B. Asia, vii. pi. 40 (1857) ; Sclater and Wolf, Zool. Sket. 

 i. pi. 38 (1861) ; Elliot, Monogr. Phas. ii. pi. ix. (1872) ; 

 Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 334 (1893). 



Adult Male. — Easily distinguished from all other species of 

 the genus by having the whole of the under-parts U7iiform dark 

 greefi. The mantle is dark green shot with purple, each feather 

 being ornamented WMth concentric lines of buff, and there is no 

 rust-red patch on each side of the rump, w4iich is uniform 

 greenish-slate. In this respect the present species differs from 

 P. torquaius dind all the allied forms with slate-coloured rumps. 

 Total lengthy 29 inches ; wing, 9-6 ; tail, i7'5 ; tarsus, 27. 



Adult Female. — Much like the female of P. strauchi, but the 

 feathers of the mantle have the centre almost entirely black, 

 with sometimes a thin rufous shaft-stripe and the green tips 

 are generally conspicuous ; the black bars on the breast and 

 flanks are much more strongly marked. Total length, 24 

 inches; wing, 8-2; tail, io"5 ; tarsus, 2-2. 



Range. — The Japanese Islands, except Yezo. 



Habits. — Mr. Heine, who met with this beautiful bird on the 

 hills in the neighbourhood of Simoda, supplies the following 

 account : — " The walk and ascent had fatigued me somewhat ; 

 I had laid down my gun and game-bag, and was just stooping 

 to drink from a little spring that trickled from a rock, when, 

 not ten yards from me, a large Pheasant arose, with loud rust- 

 ling noise, and before I had recovered my gun, he had dis- 

 appeared over the brow of a hill. I felt somewhat ashamed 

 for allowing myself thus to be taken so completely aback ; but 

 noticing the direction in which he had gone, I proceeded more 

 carefully in pursuit. A small stretch of table-land, w^icll I 



