THE COMMON PHEASANT. 155. 



the outer edges. The tail is dull greenish-yellow^ variegated 

 with yellowish-grey, the feathers with narrow transverse 

 bars of black, a broad longitudinal band of dull red on each 

 side, the loose margins red, glossed with green and purple. 

 On the abdomen and legs the feathers are dull greyish- 

 brown; under the tail variegated with reddish. The lower 

 surface of the wing is yellowish-grey. 



'' Length to end of tail 34 inches ; extent of wings 32 ; 

 wing from flexure 10; tail 18^; bill along the back lyV^ 

 along the edge of upper mandible l-j^; tarsus 3^%-; first 

 toe xVj its claw ^V; second toe l^\, its claw yV; third 

 toe 2^, its claw yV ; fourth toe Ix^a, its claw 4y twelfths. 



" Of three other individuals, the length 34, 35, 36 inches. 



" Female. — The female is similar in form to the male, but 

 with the tail much shorter. The bill and feet require no 

 particular description. The anterior scutella of the tarsus 

 are about seventeen in each row; the first toe has five, the 

 second fifteen, the third twenty-two, the fourth eighteen. As 

 in the male, there is a bare space under the eye, but scarcely 

 papillar, and more feathered. The feathers of the upper part 

 of the head are somewhat elongated ; those of the rest of the 

 head short; of the neck and body oblong and rounded; of 

 the rump not elongated as in the male. 



" The general colour of the upper parts is grejnsh-yellow, 

 variegated with black and yellowish-brown ; the top of the 

 head and the hind-neck tinged with red. The wing-coverts 

 are lighter; the quills pale greyish-brown, mottled with 

 greyish-yellow, as in the male. The tail is yellowish-grey, 

 minutely mottled with black, and having in place of transverse 

 bars, oblique irregular spots of black, centred with a pale 

 yellow line. The lower parts are lighter and less mottled, 

 the throat whitish, and Avithout spots. The bill is horn- 

 coloured, tinged with green ; the tarsi wood-brown, the toes, 

 darker, the claws of the same tint. 



"'Length 26 inches; extent of wings 30; wing from 

 flexure 9j : tail IH; bill along the back 1^ ; tarsus 2^; first 



