176 PHEASANTS FOE COVERTS AND AVIARIES 



came to the hammer. A number of the versicolor pheasants, 

 including the original bird, were purchased by Prince Deinidoff 

 for his preserves in Italy, and others passed into the posses- 

 sion of Mr. J. J. Gurney, of Norwich. Since that period other 

 specimens have been imported, and at the present time the 

 P. versicolor is established as a denizen of many of our 

 preserves. 



In form, habits, and disposition the P. versicolor corre- 

 sponds closely to our common pheasants. As a game bird 

 it is, both in the covert and on the table, of undeniable 

 excellence. 



As the bird crosses freely both with the common and the 

 Chinese species, it is desirable to give an accurate and 

 detailed description of its plumage. For this purpose I shall 

 again have recourse to Mr. Gould's " Birds of Asia/' and 

 reproduce his elaborate description of the two sexes : 



" The male has the forehead, crown, and occiput purplish 

 oil green ; ear tufts glossy green ; chin, throat, and sides and 

 back of the neck glossy changeable bluish-green; back of 

 the neck, breast, and under surface deep shining grass green, 

 with shades of purple on the back of the neck and upper part 

 of the breast ; feathers of the back and scapularies chesnut> 

 with buffy shafts and two narrow lines of buff running round 

 each, about equi-distant from each other and the margin ; 

 lower part of the back and upper tail coverts light glaucous 

 grey ; shoulders and wing coverts light greenish-grey, washed 

 with purple; primaries brown on the internal web, toothed 

 with dull white at the base ; outer web greyer and 

 irregularly banded with dull white; tertiaries brown, freckled 

 with grey, and margined first with greenish-grey and then 

 with reddish chesnut; centre of abdomen and thighs blackish- 

 brown ; tail glaucous grey, slightly fringed with purplish, 

 and with a series of black marks down the centre, opposite to 

 each other at the base of the feathers, where they assume a 

 band-like form; as they advance towards the tip they 

 gradually become more and more irregular, until they are 



