366 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. 



have jfrequently done of late years in our fishmarket, 

 I liave noticed every shade of difference from the 

 nearly pure-bred ring-neck, with its buff-coloured 

 flanks and rich tints of lavender, and green on the 

 wing and tail-coverts, to the common pheasant, in 

 its brilliant but less varied plumage with but one 

 feather in its glossy neck just tipped with a speck of 

 white. The chief points of difference in the plumage of 

 the common and ring-necked pheasant will be best seen 

 by an examination of the museum specimens, which pre- 

 sent a very fair series of both true and cross-bred birds, 

 as well as white and pied varieties. No. 172 being a fair 

 type of the pure P. colchicus, and No. 172.h a nearly 

 perfect specimen of P. torquatus. Some birds of the 

 first cross are scarcely distinguishable from the true 

 P. torquatus, and are most gorgeous objects when flushed 

 in the sun light on open ground ; but as the " strain" 

 gradually dies out, the green and lavender tints on the 

 back begin to fade, and the rich orange flanks are toned 

 down by degrees ; though still, the most marked feature 

 of all, the white ring on the neck, descends from one 

 generation to another, and the hybrid origin of the 

 bird is thus apparent long after every other trace of 

 its mixed parentage has entirely passed away. I am 

 informed that no little difficulty is sometimes experi- 

 enced by gamekeepers, from the fact of the eggs of 

 the ring-necked pheasant hatching more quickly than 

 those of our common pheasant, and hence should a 

 mixed '^clutch" of eggs be placed under a hen, which 

 is very likely to happen when supphes are purchased 

 from different places, she comes off with her first 

 hatched young, leaving perhaps a majority of good eggs 

 still unincubated in the nest. 



Another very beautiful cross, between the green 

 Japan pheasant (P, versicolor) and P. colchicus, was 

 introduced into this county some few years back by 



