THE AMHERST PHEASANT. 231 



places ; in these spots the Amherst Pheasant is met with in 

 abundance. It is an error to think that, like other pheasants, 

 it is met with in the forests ; I have never found it there, and 

 as in the neighbourhood of Ta-lin-pin it only exists where 

 there are no forests, I doubt very much if bushy tracts are 

 to its liking. The more rocky and desolate the mountains, 

 the more certain are you to find the Flower Pheasants, in 

 companies composed of from twenty to thirty individuals. 



" The habits and economy of the Amherst Pheasant 

 naturally accord with the places in which it delights ; it is 

 an extremely wild bird. Last year I kept one of these 

 pheasants in a stable covered with straw; it hid itself so 

 frequently and so well that once I was more than fifteen 

 days in the belief that it was dead. I fed it with bread and 

 rice, and it became very fat. If this bird should be intro- 

 duced into Europe, it would be useless to endeavour to make 

 it comfortable, if it has not in the aviary some place where, 

 at the least noise, it can hide itself, otherwise I doubt if it 

 can be preserved. I think, from the temperature of the 

 mountains it inhabits, that the climate of France would be 

 suitable for the Flower Pheasant. These particulars 

 respecting the Lady Amherst's Pheasants are perfectly 

 exact, since I have myself frequently hunted, captured, fed, 

 and raised them. They would increase easily in Europe, 

 provided they were not too much exposed to the heat of the 

 sun, and that shrubs were grown in the aviary to allow of 

 their hiding when frightened/' 



The breeding of the Amherst Pheasant offers no difficulty, 

 provided it be attempted under natural conditions, and not in 

 the close pens, and stifling, vermin-haunted hatching-houses 

 that are characteristic of some of our zoological collections. 

 Not only has the pure race been increased, but the males 

 have also bred freely with the hens of the Gold Pheasant 

 (Thaumalea picta), and produced hybrids which are of 

 surpassing beauty. At the sale of the surplus stock in the 

 Zoological Gardens at Antwerp in 1872, a single male hybrid 



