THE CHINESE PHEASANT. 169 



exceedingly pale, aucl by some writers this local variety has 

 been described as a distinct species under the name of 

 P. formosanus. 



The characters of the pure-bred Chinese P. torquatus were 

 given in minute detail by the late Mr. Grould in his mag- 

 nificent folio, "The Birds of Asia." They are as follows: 

 " The male has the forehead deep green ; crown of the head 

 fawn colour glossed with green ; over each eye a conspicuous 

 streak of buffy white; the naked papillated skin of the orbits 

 and sides of the face deep scarlet or blood-red, interspersed 

 beneath the eye with a series of very minute black feathers ; 

 horn-like tufts on each side of the head; throat and neck rich 

 deep, shining green with violet reflections ; near the base of 

 the neck a conspicuous collar of shining white feathers, narrow 

 before and behind, and broadly dilated at the sides ; the 

 feathers of the back of the neck black, with a narrow mark 

 of white down the centre of the back portion, and a large 

 lengthened mark of ochreous yellow within the edge of 

 each web near the tip; the feathers of back and scapu- 

 laries black at the base, with a streak of white in the 

 middle, then buff surrounded with a distinct narrow band 

 of black, to which succeeds an outer fringe of chesnut ; 

 feathers of the back black, with numerous zigzag and 

 crescentic marks of buffy white; lower part of the back, 

 rump, and upper tail coverts light green of various shades, 

 passing into bluish-grey at the sides, below which is a 

 mark of rufous; breast feathers, indented at the tip, of a 

 rich reddish chesnut, with purple reflections, and each 

 bordered with black; flanks, fine buff, with a large angular 

 spot of beautiful violet at the tip ; centre of the abdomen 

 black, with violet reflections ; under tail coverts reddish 

 chesnut; wing coverts silvery-grey; wings brown, the 

 primaries with light shafts, and crossed with narrow bars 

 of light buff ; the secondaries similar, but not so regularly 

 marked as the primaries ; tail feathers olive, fringed with 

 different shades of reddish violet, and crossed at regular 



