288 PHASIANID.E. 



velvet-like margin ; the legs and feet retaining tlieir smaller 

 and more slender female character, and are without spurs. 



White and Pied varieties of the Pheasant are not uncom- 

 mon ; and this account of our Pheasant having extended to 

 an unusual length, the Ring-necked and Bohemian Pheasants 

 will, for brevity''s sake, be considered also as only varieties. 

 The first may be known, when old enough, by the white 

 feathers which form part of a circle on the sides and back of 

 the neck ; I have never, in the oldest specimens, seen the 

 ring continued round the front ; the saddle hackle feathers 

 have peacock- green and copper reflections ; the tail-feathers 

 have broader dark bars, and the spaces between the bars 

 speckled with black. 



The two or three examples which I have seen of Avhat are 

 called the Bohemian Pheasant, shot in this country, have 

 appeared to be accidental varieties, very pale in colour on the 

 neck, and approaching to buffy white on the chest, back, and 

 wing, apparently from weakness and consequent defective 

 secretions. 



