October 20, 192 1] 



NATURE 



235 



of China, and the magnificent industry and in- 

 telligence of the Chinese, will enable the country 

 once again to overcome difficulties that would be 

 fatal to any State with a less stable economic 

 foundation. 



The book is illustrated by a series of excellent 

 photographs. J. \V. G. 



Natural History of Pheasants. 



A Mojiograph of the Pheasants. By William 

 Beebe. (In four volumes.) \'ol. 2. Pp. xv + 

 269 + plates. (London : H. F. and G. Witherby, 

 1921.) 12I. lOS. 



THE first volume of this sumptuous and im- 

 portant work was noticed in Nature for 

 December 19, 191 8, p. 302, and the long interval 

 between its appearance and the issuing of the 

 second instalment has been, the publishers point 

 out, unavoidable, owing to various circumstances 

 associated with the war. 



The present volume treats of twenty -two 

 species and of the hybrid forms of some of them : 

 of the Kaleeges (genus Gennaeus), of which there 

 are ten species ; the crestless firebacks (genus 

 Acomus), two species ; the crested firebacks (genus 

 Lophura), four species ; the white-tailed wattled 

 pheasant (genus Lobiophasisj, one species ; and 

 the junglefowls (genus Gallus), five species. All 

 these genera are peculiar to the fauna of the 

 Oriental regions. The life-histories and habits of 

 a number of these birds were previously little or 

 altogether unknown, owing to the difficulty of 

 penetrating the dense jungles and forests which 

 form their native haunts. 



For many reasons the author considers the 

 Kaleeges the most interesting members of the 

 pheasant family, especially so on account of 

 the very puzzling nature of the many forms, of 

 which no fewer than thirty-five have been described 

 either as species or as subspecies. Mr. Beebe has 

 carefully studied these forms, with the result that 

 he recognises only nine as full species, and the 

 remaining twenty-six as natural hybrids. In 

 Burma, where the range of three species 

 {Gennaeus lineatus, G. horsfieldi, and G. nycthe- 

 merus) is conterminous, an astounding amount of 

 hybridisation takes place. His researches have also 

 added much to the knowledge of the home-life of 

 several of the species. In like manner ornithology 

 is indebted to him for his contributions to the 

 histories of the crestless firebacks which inhabit 

 the low-lying jungles of the Malay Peninsula and 

 Sumatra, these in some cases being revealed only 

 after great difficulties had been encountered. The 

 same may be said of certain species of the crested 

 NO. '2712, VOL. 108] 



firebacks, especially the Malayan species (Lophura 

 riija), a glimpse of the beauty of which, he tells us, 

 was worth the longest stalk and the most weari- 

 some wait. He was also successful in meeting with 

 the gorgeous white-tailed wattled pheasant amid 

 the upland jungles and low forests of Central 

 Borneo. Regarding this species, Mr. Beebe re- 

 joices that it has only one synonymic name, re- 

 marking that it is "a most welcome simplicity 

 in nomenclature after such unfortunate taxonomic 

 tangles as surround the specific identity of the 

 species of Lophura." In this connection it may 

 be noted that he has not made use of a single 

 trinomial name in his great work. 



The volume concludes with an account of the 

 species of junglefowl, the typical form of which, 

 Gallus gallus, the red junglefowl, is the parent 

 stock of all the domestic breeds of poultry, and 

 hence "to the human race . . . the most important 

 bird on earth." This species is a native of India, 

 Burma, Siam, Gambodia, the Malay States, and 

 Sumatra, and is found^ in the wildest regions, as 

 well as in close proximity to the wildest native 

 villages. Through human agency it is now to be 

 found in a more or less feral state in islands so 

 far removed from its native haunts as Jahiti, but 

 remains attributed to a species of Gallus have 

 been discovered in deposits of Pleistocene age in 

 New Zealand, while others of Pliocene age have 

 been obtained in France and in Greece. If the 

 identification of these fossil relics — not alluded to 

 by Mr. Beebe — is to be relied upon, it is evident 

 that junglefowls had a much wider range in pre- 

 historic times. The Ceylon species (G. lafayetti) 

 and the grey junglefowl (G. sonneraii) do not call 

 for special mention. Perhaps the latter bird is 

 best known on account of the fact that the ter- 

 minal portion of its neck hackles are an almost 

 indispensable adjunct to the modern salmon fly. 

 With the fine and hitherto little-known Javan 

 species it is otherwise, for there are some im- 

 portant facts associated with its geographical dis- 

 tribution, since it is the only species of the 

 pheasant family treated of by the author the home 

 of which is entirely confined to islands south of the 

 equator. Moreover, it may be remarked, it is 

 the only form the range of which extends into 

 the Austro-Malay region, for it is a native of the 

 islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, and Alor. 



There have been many monographs devoted to 

 various groups of birds, including the pheasants, 

 not a few of which rank among the most beau- 

 tiful works devoted to any branch of zoological 

 science, but it is not too much to aver that the 

 book under notice is incomparably the best. It 

 may have been approached in the beauty of its 



