22 TURKEYS AND PHEASANTS. 



ENGLISH PHEASANT. 



Phasianus colchicus. 



Char. Male : plumage exquisitely beautiful, but too variegated to be 

 minutely described in a short paragraph. The principal colors are brown 

 of several shades, orange-red, yellow, and black; and these are distributed 

 in handsome markings and pencillings. Head and neck steel blue, with 

 metallic reflections of green and purple ; breast golden red, each feather 

 edged with velvet black ; tail-feathers very long, — the two middle feathers 

 sometimes measuring two feet, — yellowish brown, with narrow bars of 

 black. Female : duller ; yellowish brown, with markings of darker brown 

 and some black. Length of male, including tail-feathers, about 3 feet ; of 

 female about 2 feet. 



Nest. In thicket or dense hedge, a slight hollow scratched out by 

 female, partially lined with loosely arranged leaves and grass. Occa- 

 sionally a deserted nest in a tree has been used. 



Eggs. 8-14 (usually about 12, sometimes 16 or 20), olive brown, some- 

 times bluish green ; 1.85 X 1.45. 



I have called this the " English " Pheasant to distinguish it from 

 other species that have been introduced into this country. In 

 England it is known as " Pheasant," or " Common Pheasant." 

 It is not indigenous to Great Britain, though when it was intro- 

 duced there is not known, some writers asserting that it was 

 carried by the Romans, while others consider the Norman Con- 

 quest responsible for its introduction. The true home of the bird 

 is the valleys of the Caucasus and the eastern shores of the Cas- 

 pian Sea, but it has been introduced into almost every country of 

 Europe. In Great Britain very few thorough-bred specimens are 

 to be found, most of the birds displaying a collar of white, — which 

 proves their relationship to the Ring-necked Pheasants brought 

 from China. Other species, as well, have been introduced and suc- 

 cessfully bred with both true colchicus and hybrids. 



Within a few years the present species has been introduced into 

 this country by Mr. C. B. Cory — who loosed several pairs on 

 Great Island, off the southern shore of Cape Cod — and by a club 

 of sportsmen who have stocked Jekyl Island, on the Georgian 

 coast. Both colonies have become naturalized and are increasing. 

 Several other species have been imported from China and Japan, 

 and liberated in Oregon and British Columbia, where they are 

 increasing rapidly. 



