184 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



stating that it cannot be reared successfully in the same 

 manner as ordinary English pheasants, whereas it is appar- 

 ently certain that no true Mongolian pheasant has up to 

 recent times ever been introduced into the United States. 

 Misled by the official documents as to the rearing of this 

 bird,, I reproduced the directions for its cultivation in the 

 Field, which elicited from the Hon. Walter Rothschild the 

 following communication : 



" I wish to point out that the bird called in America, 

 France, Holland, and many other countries Mongolian 

 pheasant is not that bird, but the ring-necked pheasant, or 

 Chinese pheasant (P. torquatus), and, so far as I have 

 been able to ascertain, the true P. mongolicus had never 

 been introduced alive before Mr. Carl Hagenbeck got 

 them for me, and certainly have not been introduced into 

 America/' 



It is difficult to imagine how this mistake could have 

 arisen ; the appearance of the two breeds is totally dis- 

 tinct. But there is no doubt that the Hon. Walter Roths- 

 child is perfectly correct, for in an elaborate paper on 

 pheasants in Country Life in America for September, 1903, 

 engravings of the different species are given, including 

 a large one of the Chinese Ring-neck, P. torquatus, and 

 underneath this elaborate drawing is put the following- 

 description : 



"The so-called ' Mongolian J pheasant, properly the China 

 Ring-neck, or Torquatus, the true Mongolian, has never 

 reached this country alive. Eighteen Torquatus pheasants 

 were turned loose in Oregon in 1884, and there are probably 

 more now in Oregon than in China. Fifty thousand were 

 killed in one day last year in Oregon. This is the best 

 species for naturalising in American game preserves." 



There is no doubt whatever of the correctness of the 

 statement by the Hon. Walter Rothschild, and the error 

 committed by the American authorities is greatly to be 

 regretted, as it cannot fail to lead to confusion. 



