THE CHINESE PHEASANT. 173 



of South America, often; indeed, calling at Rio, and then 

 struck straight away for the Cape of Good Hope, aided by the 

 return trade wind. It was on the return from India that the 

 Island of St. Helena was visited, and letters from England 

 to the island went via the Cape. In these circumstances, 

 the introduction of a Colchian pheasant to the island is 

 exceedingly improbable, and that of a Japanese bird out of 

 the question. 



With regard to the alteration in plumage produced 

 by an exposure to these new conditions for 373 years, it 

 must be confessed that they are remarkably insignificant. 

 There is the same glossy, shining green of the head and neck, 

 the white ring completely surrounding the neck, the pale 

 greenish tail and wing coverts, but the breast and flanks are 

 less distinctly spangled, the under parts being of a more 

 uniform red. 



The slight change in the plumage is doubtless owing to 

 the influence of a change of climate acting through many 

 generations, added, perhaps, by a change of diet. We are 

 informed by Mr. J. English Torbett that the ripe seeds of 

 the Calla sethiopica, so common as a greenhouse plant 

 in this country, are much sought after by the pheasants 

 in St. Helena, and that it forms a large portion of their 

 food. 



Closely allied to the ordinary Chinese pheasant is a bird 

 which has been described as a distinct species by Consul 

 Swinhoe, under the title of the Ringless Chinese Pheasant 

 (P. decollatus}. It was obtained by him at Chung-king-foo, 

 in Szechuen, and a somewhat similar bird was procured 

 by Pere David, at Moupin, near the Thibetan boundary. I 

 cannot regard these birds as anything more than mere local 

 varieties of the ordinary Chinese species, and must refer 

 those who wish to trace the slight distinctions between them 

 to Mr. Elliot/ s " Phasianidee," in which they are figured. In 

 the same magnificent folio will be found engravings of the 

 Yarkand Pheasant (P. insignis), and Shaw's Pheasant 



