REEVEs's PHEASANT. 57 



did not succeed until the year 1831. Four speci- 

 mens were brought, from the interior of China, 

 to Mr. Beale's aviary, and purchased for one 

 hundred and thirty dollars. These specimens 

 were those, I believe, subsequently taken to 

 England by Mr. Reeves. A female of this ele- 

 gant creature has not yet been procured, although 

 larp-e offers have been made for one. Much dif- 

 ficulty has been experienced in procuring from 

 the Chinese, female birds of the Reeves's or 

 golden pheasants : many think it proceeds from 

 a desire of preventing the birds being bred ; but 

 it may more correctly be attributable to the diffi- 

 culty of persuading the Chinese that the females 

 can at all be an object of attraction, or worthy 

 of purchase, from being deficient in the brilliant 

 plumage of the male birds ; and it is probable 

 that they misunderstand the person who requests 

 females to be brought, and therefore male speci- 

 mens are usually brought in place of them. A 

 drawing of this bird was sent to England, by 

 Mr. Beale, in 1804 ; and on the death, before 

 mentioned, of the first living specimen ever seen 

 by Europeans in China, it was stufied, and pre- 

 sented to a gentleman belonging to the Dutch 

 Factory at Canton, who expressed a great desire 

 to send it to Holland, as it would materially 

 favour his interest at home : it was, therefore. 



