70 -^ - ^^^^ 



,^^ ^ t-M'USfAi^^^P^^i A\ w ff vi^^^JLl 



Jiiiiuary 1(5, 1909 slates that these birds "rise freely to the beaters, and 

 fly boldly, very fast and high." Mr. Harry T. Rogers informs me, how- 

 ever, that he considers the bird rather slnggish and that he does not see 

 much to be gained from a sporting standpoint in crossing the Mongolian 

 with the ringneck. 



The Mongolian is not to be found in the wild in any part of the United 

 States, so far as I am informed, but the State of Massachusetts reported 

 in the BULLETIN of the American Game Protective Association of 



July 15, 1915 as follows regarding breeding activities in that species: 



Eggs set to Hatched to Still 



June 20 June 20 incubating 



Mongolian pheasant 90 40 50 



Mongolian pheasant cross 68 27 41 



Mongolian (Evans stock) 82 26 56 



In the same issue, the State of Connecticut reported that it was 

 breeding Mongolians, but gave no statistics. 



Mr. A. G. MacVicar, head game keeper at the Childs-Walcott pre- 

 serve in northern Connecticut, thinks well of the Mongolian, as will be 

 seen from his letter, recently received : 



The Mongolian cocks we bred from this season were reared in 

 this state from imported stock. Crossed with the ringneck hens, 

 we got a larger and more vigorous progeny. This is true of nearly 

 all crosses, as, for instance, versicolor, Prince of Wales, Hagenbeck, 

 etc., with ringneck hens. Some of the hardiest and best birds I have 

 seen in this country, however, were pure Chinese (Phasianus tor- 

 quatus) from Oregon. The fertility of our eggs this season was below 

 the average, I suppose on account of the cold wet season. 



We did not get any eggs here till late in April. (We had 14 



inches of snow still on the ground April 7.) So you can see that we 



can scarcely expect as many or as fertile eggs here at this altitude, 



as, say, Mr. Dunn could count on at Forked River. Birds reared 



here, however, should make very good breeders, hardy and prolific. 



Mr. Neil Clark is another experienced and highly successful breeder 



who fancies the Mongolian. He writes me from the Clove Valley Rod and 



Gun Club, in Dutchess County, New York, as follows: 



We imported from M. Dwight, Berkhamsted, Herts, England, 

 forty-six Mongolian cock pheasants. We did not get them until 

 the middle of February and they were in very poor shape, having 

 been more than two weeks on the way. I did not use them for 

 breeders this year but I intend to next. The Mongolian cross is a 

 larger bird than the ringneck, is just as good for sport and is very 

 hardy. I think they cost about $10 a pair. If you will pay us a 



