SPORT IN WESTERN CHINA 115 



specimen I ever saw was shot near Nanto, at the head of the 

 Ichang Gorge ; it measured 7 feet 2 inches, tip to tip ! 



The Reeves Pheasant is now so well known in aviaries that 

 the following description is scarcely necessary : Crown and 

 throat, white ; upper-parts, dull yellow ; feathers, narrowly 

 margined with black, giving a scaly appearance ; breast, spotted 

 and barred with black, white, and chestnut, on the sides the 

 chestnut colouring shading into deep rufous-red; abdomen, 

 black; tail, grey, barred with black to tip. The female averages 

 about 32 inches, tip to tip, and is a very pretty bird ; the entire 

 plumage is mottled, black, white, and brown, with the outer 

 tail-feathers barred deep rufous-red. 



Rocky, well-wooded country, where the undergrowth is 

 not dense and in the neighbourhood of cultivation throughout 

 the altitudes mentioned above, is the haunt of this bird. He 

 has a partiality for oak woods and is very fond of acorns ; the 

 pulpy fruit of various Rosaceous plants, especially of Coton- 

 easter, is another favourite food. 



The Reeves Pheasant is a wary bird and a great runner, 

 quickly zigzagging to the mountain-top, from whence he 

 prefers to take wing. He is very quick on the wing, shooting 

 up thi'ough the trees at a sharp angle and then sailing from one 

 ridge across to another. It is a fine sight to see this bird on a 

 sunny day sailing across from ridge to ridge ; the great length 

 detracts from the spread of the wings and he resembles some 

 strange Chinese kite floating high up across the valleys. A 

 strong bird, he flies with little apparent effort, and always puts 

 at least one ridge between himself and the foe that caused his 

 flight, and usually alights on a tree. The female when startled 

 behaves similar to the male in running to the mountain-top. 

 She then takes flight, making a curious chickering noise, and 

 quickly dodges behind a tree-trunk. A common practice 

 with the female bird is to alight on the upper branches of some 

 convenient tree before essaying a long flight. The curious, 

 weak, twittering call is more like that of some small animal 

 than that of a bird. 



The Chinese name for the Reeves Pheasant is " Ch'u che " 

 (Arrow Chicken). The tail-feathers are largely used in Chinese 

 theatricals. L'Abbe David suggests that this bird may be the 



