120 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



tion, and includes Spruce, Silver Fir, and Larch, as well as Pines 

 proper.) This species of Pucras Pheasant has a very wide dis- 

 tribution, extending through the mountain ranges of northern 

 China to eastern Manchuria. It is everywhere esteemed as 

 a table-bird, the flesh having a particularly delicate flavour. 



A variety of this species was obtained in the Shensi pro- 

 vince by I'Abbe David and named P. xanthospila, var. ruficolUs. 

 This is distinguished in having the side of the neck very deep 

 red ; lateral white spot little developed and surrounded on 

 all sides by the metallic black ; median chestnut band less 

 extended on the beUy than in the type ; black tints more 

 developed on the back and wings. Very probably this should 

 rank as a distinct species, but more material is wanted to 

 determine this point. 



In western Hupeh a new species has recently been reported 

 and named Pucrasia styani. This bird measures about i8 

 inches, tip to tip ; the middle of the chest, breast, and under- 

 parts are streaked like the sides, and there is no trace of the 

 uniform chestnut band down the middle of the under-parts, 

 which is characteristic of all the other species. The female is 

 ahke in all the species of Pucrasia, being similar in size and 

 appearance to a common hen pheasant with a short tail and 

 red legs. Styan's Pucrasia occurs in the vicinity of the 

 Yangtsze River from near Kui Chou in Hupeh, westward 

 (at least) as far as Yunyang Hsien, in eastern Szechuan. I 

 flushed a small covey near Kui Chou in February 1901 and 

 secured a female. The birds rose after the manner of ordinary 

 hen pheasants, but scattered in several directions. Near 

 Yunyang Hsien I saw several others in more open rocky ground. 

 Stony, brush, and Pine-clad hillsides of no great altitude appear 

 to be the home of this rare and interesting bird. As to how 

 far it ranges to the north and south of the Yangstze River 

 is not known. 



TEMMINCK S TRAGOPAN 



This strikingly handsome bird {Tragopan temmincki) is 

 fairly common in parts of western Hupeh and western 

 Szechuan between 4000 and 9000 feet altitude, frequenting 



