114 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



as near P. decollatus, and is distinguished by the chest- and 

 breast-feathers being narrowly margined with black ; flanks, 

 darker ; mantle, fiery orange with narrow wedge-like apical 

 streaks of blackish green, broad scapulars margined with dark 

 maroon-red ; tail, more rufous-grey. The chest- and breast- 

 feathers are bright, fiery chestnut-red, edged with purplish 

 green ; flanks, bright chestnut-red, tipped with purplish green ; 

 middle of breast and sides of belly dark green. 



It is possible that the Pheasant found in the neighbourhood 

 of Sungpan Ting should be referred to this species. Unfortu- 

 nately my notes, made in 1904, are too incomplete to hazard 

 an opinion either way. My impression, however, is that this 

 Sungpan bird belongs to the elegans rather than the decollatus 

 group. 



Apart from species of the genus Phasianus, a large number 

 of birds commonly spoken of as Pheasants in the broad sense 

 of the term are found in the country with which we are con- 

 cerned, and I now propose to deal with them in detail. 



In the wooded country north and south of Ichang, between 

 2000 and 5000 feet altitude, the Reeves Pheasant [Syrmaticus 

 reevesi) is abundant. This region is the real home of this 

 magnificent bird. Westward he ranges as far as Lu Chou, 

 but I never saw or heard of one west of the Min River ; north- 

 wards his range extends into southern Shensi. Every year 

 numbers of badly prepared skins are brought into Ichang for 

 sale. In Chungking dead birds are frequently to be seen on 

 sale in the market. The flesh is very white and firm, but 

 scarcely equal in flavour to that of a common Pheasant. 



Marco Polo makes mention of this remarkable bird, and 

 specimens were secured by Mr. Thomas Beale in Canton during 

 1808. Mr. John Reeves sent specimens to England in 1832. 

 Nevertheless, it is only comparatively recently that its habitat 

 has become known, and very few have seen the bird truly wild, 

 and fewer still have shot it. Though I have seen many 

 hundreds in their native woods, I have not shot more than a 

 dozen. My largest specimen measured 6 feet and | an inch. 

 A bird shot by my associate, Mr. Zappey, in January 1909, 

 and now in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 

 College, measures 6 feet 9I inches, tip to tip. The largest 



