298 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



THE PHEASANT. 



WE shall probably never know the exact time the 

 Pheasant was introduced into Britain. But certain it 

 is he is now fully naturalised amongst us, and roams the 

 woods and fields with as much ease and freedom as his 

 native jungles of the East ; for we are told that his home 

 is in the ancient kingdom of Colchis, on the eastern 

 shores of the Black Sea. A bird of rare beauty, he 

 frequents the woods and plantations, and, where the 

 hedgerows afford sufficient shelter, the fields. He some- 

 times frequents the scrubby birch plantations and fir 

 woods on the borders of the wild ; but the place he 

 loveth best is in the richer and well-cultivated tracts of 

 country. 



The Pheasant is subject to much variation in 

 plumage ; but curiously enough these variations are for 

 the most part confined to the male birds. The female 

 will, however, sometimes assume the plumage of the 

 male, yet when this does occur she is never known to 

 breed. We sometimes see them pure white, or white 

 mottled with their rich and splendid general plumage. 

 There is also a permanent variety known as the Ring- 

 necked Pheasant, having the rich plumage of the neck, 

 encircled with a band of feathers of snowy whiteness : 

 the female bird however never exhibits this peculiarity. 

 Like most showy birds, the male Pheasant delights to 



