THE SILVER PHEASANT. 



The Peasant Cocke the woods doth most frequent, 

 Where Spaniells spring and pearche him by the sent. 



3T 

 1 



N beautiful contrast with the 

 Golden Pheasant (see BIRDS, 

 Vol. T, p. 13) we present this 

 month the magnificent Silver or 

 Penciled Pheasant, also a native 

 of China, which has long been intro- 

 duced into Europe, but has been con- 

 sidered to be fitted only for the aviary. 

 The Pheasant was long thought to 

 have been brought from the banks of 

 the river Phasis, now the Rioni, in 

 Colchis, and introduced into Europe 

 by the Argonauts. Newton says that, 

 as a matter of fact, nothing is 

 known on this point ; and, judging 

 from the recognition of the remains of 

 several species referred to, both in 

 Greece and in France, it seems not 

 impossible that the ordinary Pheasant 

 may have been indigenous to England. 

 It was thought only a few years ago 

 that the successful propagation of 

 Pheasants was problematical, but 'now 

 the Mongolian, the English Ring- 

 necked, and the Chinese Golden Pheas- 

 ant, each has found a home in some 

 of the states, where it is increasing in 

 numbers. Why may not a similar 

 experiment be made with the Silver 

 Pheasant ? 



On Fox Island, in Puget Sound, 

 there is an oriental Pheasant preserve. 

 Mr. Frank Ailing, the proprietor, is 

 securing the co-operation of other land 

 owners, and it promises to be a great 

 success. The varieties of Pheasants 

 which he is raising include all we have 

 mentioned in this article, as well as 

 the Copper, the Green, the Bronze, and 

 the Asiatic Ring-necks, with a cur- 

 iosity in the shape of a mule produced 

 by crossing and recrossing the Copper 



OLD RHYME. 



and Asiatic Ring-necks. The mule 

 hens are very beautiful, but their eggs 

 will not hatch. Oriental Quails liber- 

 ated on the island have increased quite 

 rapidly. Among the many importa- 

 tions are small Bantams from Woo 

 Sung, China, for hatching Pheasant 

 eggs and rearing the young birds ; 

 Mandarin Ducks, from Japan, (see 

 BIRDS, Vol. I, p. 9); Wild Peacocks 

 and Bleeding Heart Pigeons, from 

 Calcutta, India, and Manila, respect- 

 ively. 



In England within recent years the 

 practice of bringing up Pheasants by 

 hand has been extensively followed, 

 and the numbers so reared, says New- 

 ton, vastly exceed those that are bred 

 at large. The eggs are collected from 

 birds that are either running wild or 

 kept in a mew, and are placed under 

 domestic hens ; but, though these 

 prove most attentive foster-mothers, 

 much additional care on the part of 

 the keepers is needed to insure the 

 arrival at maturity of the chicks ; for, 

 being necessarily crowded in a com- 

 paratively small space, they are sub- 

 ject to several diseases which often 

 carry off a large proportion, to say 

 nothing of the risk they run of not 

 being provided with proper food or of 

 meeting an early death from some 

 predatory animal. As they advance 

 in age the young Pheasants readily 

 take to a wild life, and indeed can only 

 be kept from wandering in every direc- 

 tion by being plentifully supplied with 

 food, which has to be scattered for 

 them in the places in which it is desired 

 that they should stay. 



