RING-NECKED PHEASANT. 193 



possible to decide the question from any series which 

 could be procured from the preserves of this coun- 

 try ; and we possess Indian specimens of the ringed 

 bird only. We shall therefore mention the reasons 

 for separating them which the above-mentioned na- 

 turalist has pointed out, stating, at the same time, 

 that we consider his opinion to be correct, and that 

 the differences evidently appear more marked than 

 in many allied birds which have universally been 

 acknowledged distinct. 



The ringed pheasant chiefly inhabits the forests of 

 China, where the common species is also abundant, 

 but in this natural state they never breed together. 

 The eggs of the ringed bird also differ : they are of 

 a pale bluish-green, marked with small blotches of 

 a deeper tint ; while those of the common pheasant 

 are of an olive white *, and without any spots. The 

 ringed pheasant in its wild state, is always of a lesser 

 size, the extreme length never exceeding two feet 

 five inches, and the tail itself is much shorter in pro- 

 portion to the body. The head is of a whitish fawn 

 colour, tinted with bluish-green ; and above each eye 

 there are two white lines, forming a sort of eyebrow. 

 The markings on the back are different and smaller, 

 and the rump feathers shew the same peculiar tint 

 which the mixture of fawn and greenish-blue ex- 

 hibits ; and, lastly, the white ring broadest upon the 

 sides of the neck, is a mark which never can be mis- 



* This may be seen in any part where the two breeds ex- 

 ist together. 



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