72 



.^^= 



PRINCE OF WALES.— While this species can be obtained of the 

 larger dealers in this country, I know of only one place in which it is being 

 produced in any numbers and that is on the farm of the King County Game 

 Commission, near Seattle, Washington, as appears from the letter of Mr. 

 H. Rief, reproduced in the chapter immediately ])receding. This pheas- 

 ant is a native of Afghanistan and spends much time in dense under- 

 growths in marshes, though it feeds in more open and drier country morn- 

 ing and evening. It would be interesting to see experiments conducted 

 with this bird in country as nearly resembling that in which it is found in 

 Afghanistan as possible. 



THE GOLDEN PHEASANT— We pass now from the so-called true 

 pheasants, the species included in the genus Phasianus, all of which inter- 

 breed and produce fertile offspring, to the genus Thaiimalea and the birds 

 which are more frequently found in the aviary than the covert, beyond the 

 boundaries of the land of their origin. The golden pheasant is usually 

 regarded as one of the easiest of all the species to breed, many considering 

 it a hardier bird than the ringneck. It is certainly one of the most beau- 

 tiful of all the pheasants, its silken crest and broad tippet, characteristics 

 of the genus to which it belong, giving it a distinction all its own. The 

 golden is known to inhabit the mountainous country in the western cen- 

 tral part of China. 



Twenty-five eggs is a good average for the golden hen in a season. 

 The young take to roosting very early and, despite his gorgeous plumage, 



the adult cock is by no means so 

 easily marked in the wild as might 

 l)e expected. Young cocks do not 

 come into full plumage till after the 

 middle of the second summer. Gold- 

 ens are occasionally shot in various 

 parts of the country but in no 

 instance have they become really 

 established. They are shy birds 

 and are said in the wild to be dis- 

 posed to make way for more asser- 

 tive species. 



Dr. G. Howard Davison, the 

 well-known authority on American 

 agriculture, informs me that he will 

 probably breed and liberate a few 

 goldens next year on his |)lace near 

 Millbrook, Dutchess County, New 



Amherst pheasant cock. New Jersey 

 State Game Farm. 



