THE GOLDEN PHEASANT. 



611 



No amount of artificial colouring 

 could give the full effect of the gorgeous 

 and ever-changing beauty which adorns 

 the plumage of this magnificent bird ; 

 while the simple black and white of an en- 

 graving gives but a very faint notion of its 

 real magnificence. Tlie absence of colours 

 must therefore be faintly supplied with a 

 brief description in words. 



The head is white, except a patch of 

 light scarlet naked skin around the eyes, 

 edged by a band of black which runs 

 over the forehead, under the chin, and is 

 rather broader over the ear-coverts. The 

 neck is also broadly collared with white. 

 The back of the neck, and the back 

 itself are covered with shining scale-like 

 feathers, each being a liglit golden yellow 

 and edged at the extremity l)y a band of 

 deep velvety black, thus producing an 

 extremely rich appearance. The feathers 

 of the breast and abdomen are snowy 

 white, banded and tipped with the same 

 velvety black as those of the upper parts 

 with the exception of the middle of the 

 breast and abdomen, which are deep 

 black, and the imder tail-coverts, which 

 are also black covered with golden yellow 

 spots. The two central feathers of the 

 tail are delicate grey, covered with nu- 

 merous transverse and rather cui-ved 

 bands of rich dark brown, edged with a 

 lighter tint of the same colour. In one 

 of these feathers only four feet in lengtli, 

 Mr. Temminck counted forty-seven bands. 

 The remaining feathers of the tail are 

 greyisli white, also pi-ofuscly barred with 

 deep Ijrown, and passing into chestnut at 

 tlieir edges. They can be folded over 

 each other, and they appear very narrow. 



Two very lovely birds are shown in 

 the illustration on page 612, one glowing 

 like the sun in the full radiance of gold 

 and crimson, and the other shining like 

 the moon with a soft silvery lustre, not 

 so splendid, but even more pleasing. 



The Golden Pheasant is a native 

 of China, where it is a great favourite, 

 not only for its splendid plumage and 

 elegant form, but for the excellence of 

 its flesh, which is said to surpass in de- 

 licacy even that of the common Pheasant. 



For the purposes of the table, how- 

 ever, it is hardly likely to come into 

 general use, as there are great difliculties 

 in the way of breeding it in sufficient 



REEVES' PHEASiVN'T.— PAoJioniis Hetvesii. 



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