CHAPTEE XII. 



PHEASANTS ADAPTED TO THE COVERT 

 (CONTINUED). 



THE JAPANESE PHEASANT (PHASIANUS 

 VERSICOLOR). 



APAN, among the numerous objects of interest with 

 which it has furnished Europe, has supplied us 

 with the most gorgeous of the true pheasants 

 P. versicolor. It is doubtful, indeed, whether any of 

 the gallinaceous group, magoificent as many of them 

 are, can surpass this bird in resplendent brilliancy. 

 The wonderful dark grass green of the breast, that no 

 painter can equal, the dark blue of the neck, and the brilliant 

 scarlet of the face, taken together, constitute one of the most 

 effective combinations of colour to be found in the whole 

 class of birds. This splendid addition to the fauna of Great 

 Britain was quite unknown in a living state in Europe sixty 

 years since. It was described by Vieillot in his Galerie des 

 Oiseaux in 1825 and by Temminck in 1830. In 1840 a few 

 birds were brought to Amsterdam from Japan. Of these a 

 pair passed into the possession of the Earl of Derby. Of this 

 pair the female died, and the breed was established by cross- 

 ing the male with several females of the ordinary species, and 

 then pairing the half-bred progeny with the old male, and 

 continuing the breeding back until the offspring were no 

 longer capable of being distinguished from the original bird. 

 At the death of the Earl of Derby the Knowsley collection 



