THE PHEASANT. 



73 



dainty ; and when the old physicians spoke 

 of the wholesomeness of any viands, they 

 made their comparison with the flesh of the 

 pheasant. However, notwithstanding all these 

 perfections to tempt the curiosity or the palate, 

 the pheasant has multiplied in its wild state ; 

 and, as if disdaining the protection of man, 

 has left him, to take shelter in the thickest 

 .woods and the remotest forests. All others of 

 the domestic kind, the cock, the turkey, or 

 the pintado, when once reclaimed, have still 

 continued in their domestic state, and per- 

 severed in the habits and appetites of willing 

 slavery. But the pheasant, though taken 

 from its native warm retreats, where the woods 

 supply variety of food, and the warm sun suits 

 its tender constitution, has still continued its 

 attachment to native freedom ; and now wild 

 among us, makes the most envied ornament 

 of our parks and forests, where he feeds upon 

 acorns and berries, and the scanty produce of 

 our chilling climate. 



This spirit of independence seems to attend 

 the pheasant even in captivity. In the woods, 

 the hen pheasant lays from eighteen to twenty 

 eggs in a season ; but in a domestic state she 

 seldom lays above ten. In the same manner 

 when wild she hatches and leads up her brood 

 with patience, vigilance, and courage ; but 

 when kept tame, she never sits well; so that 

 a hen is generally her substitute upon such 

 such occasions ; and as for leading her young 

 to their food, she is utterly ignorant of where 

 it is to be found : and the young birds starve, 

 if left solely to her protection. The pheasant 

 therefore, on every account, seems better left 

 at large in the woods, than reclaimed to pris- 

 tine captivity. Its fecundity when wild is 

 sufficient to stock the forest ; its beautiful 

 plumage adorns it ; and its flesh retains a 

 higher flavour from its unlimited freedom. 1 



1 The pheasants (phasianidce) form one of the most 

 interesting groups of the feathered race, whatever be the 

 point of view in which we contemplate them. Their 

 beauty of form and the splendour of their hues, have 

 attracted universal admiration. Many dazzle by the 

 metallic lustre of their plumage, which gleams with 

 green, and blue, and gold. Such, for exam.tle, is the 

 case with that gorgeous bird the Impeyan pheasant 

 (Lophophorus Impeyanus) of the Himalayan moun- 

 tains, which it has several times been attempted to bring 

 alive into this country, but hitherto without success. 

 Others, as the golden pheasant of China (phasianus 



pictus\ delight us with the richness and multiplicity of. 

 their tints, which contrast admirably with each other. 



VOl. II. 



However, it has been the aim of late to 

 take these birds once more from the woods, 

 and to keep them in places fitted for their 

 reception. Like all others of the poultry 



The common pheasant, now naturalized over the greater 

 portion of Europe, is exceedingly beautiful, but it is far 

 surpassed by many of its congeners, of which we may 

 mention that elegant Chinese species the Phasianus 

 Reevesii (P. venesatus, Temm.), of which a fine speci- 

 men adorns the Gardens of the Zoological Society. It 

 is to be observed, however, that this beauty of plumage 

 is confined to the males; the females are universally 

 attired in a sober dress of brown, often indeed exquisitely 

 pencilled with spots and zigzag lines, but totally desti- 

 tute of the brilliant hues which glisten in their mates. 

 Independently, however, of the beauty of the pheasant 

 tribe, there is another point of interest which cannot be 

 overlooked we allude to their value as it respects the 

 table. The flesh of all the gallinaceous birds affords to 

 man a wholesome and nutritious food, and that of the 

 pheasants is deservedly in high estimation. Hence the 

 introduction and naturalization of the common pheasant 

 in western Europe is a positive good, and it is desirable 

 therefore to add other species to the list of those which 

 are acclimated with us. 



The pheasants (family Pkasianidae} are all natives 

 of Asia. The common pheasant was originally brought 

 from the river Phasis by the Greeks in some of their 

 earlier expeditions ; that of the Argonauts under Jason 

 has the popular credit of having introduced it. How- 

 ever this may be, the name given to the bird by the 

 Greeks (Qao-ictvos, in Latin Phasianus) of which all our 

 modem European names for it are merely corruptions, 

 points to the banks of the Phasis as the place from which 

 it was derived ; and to the present day the pheasants of 

 Mingrelia (the Colchis of the ancients) are celebrated 

 for their beauty and size. Extreme brilliancy of plum- 

 age is in general the characteristic of birds dwelling in 

 torrid regions beneath a glowing sky ; such is not the 

 case as it regards the most gorgeous and beautiful of the 

 pheasant tribe. On the contrary, the high mountains 

 of the Himalaya, bordering upon the limits of perpetual 

 snow, are tenanted by the most splendid of this family. 

 The Impeyan pheasant is an example in point : adapted 

 for regions where the temperature is at the most only 

 moderate, and often at a low degree, this noble bird soon 

 dies when taken from its alpine home into the burning 

 lowlands of India ; and hence arises one of the difficul- 

 ties in the way of our obtaining living specimens in 

 Europe. But besides the Impeyan pheasant, the Hima- 

 laya chain of mountains presents us with a group or 

 genus of this family, containing a very limited number 

 of species remarkable both for their great beauty and 

 their characters, which indicate an affinity to the tur- 

 keys, between which group and that of the genuine 

 pheasants, they constitute an intermediate link. The 

 genus to which we allude is that termed Tragopan, 

 (Cuvier,) of which three species only are known. They 

 are easily distinguishable from all the rest of the 

 Phasianidce (at least as far as regards the male birds) 

 by the presence of large throat-wattles, or naked carun- 

 culated flaps of skin, (resembling those of the turkey), 

 which extend from the naked cheeks, spread over the 

 throat, and proceed down each side of the neck, while 

 from behind each eye rises a soft fleshy horn. The 

 whole of these appendages are capable of being con- 

 tracted and dilated at pleasure, or at least in accordance 

 with the emotions of anger, fear, &c., as we see in the 

 male turkey : the tints of the horns and wattles are 

 rich purple, mingled with scarlet, and are most proba- 

 bly changeable from one hue to another. The tail is 

 broad and rounded, and the plumage is dotted with 



