84. THE BIRDS OF BRECONSHIRE. 
Pheasants. It was a_ perfect Hybrid 
Pheasant and Black Game. It resembled 
the Blackcock at first sight, only it was 
much larger; indeed it was exactly half 
Pheasant and half Black Game even to 
the legs, which were feathered half-way 
down. It was nearly black in colour 
but in the light the feathers were all 
bronzed. The head was like a Pheasant 
in shape but dark in colour though lighter 
behind the eyes, whilst the tail coverts, 
tail, and entire wings were greyish brown 
like a Pheasant, and were much longer 
than a Blackcock’s, but without the curl 
in the tail. Except that it was older 
and larger it exactly resembled those 
before alluded to as being killed in the 
neighbourhood of Builth. It is now in 
Mr. Crawshay’s collection. It would 
seem, therefore, that to a certain extent 
these hybrids between Black Game and 
Pheasant breed true to feather and 
colour. 
The subject of wild bred hybrids is 
most interesting. I believe them to be 
extremely rare, and generally, if not 
always, produced through either one or 
the other of the parent birds being 
