180 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



opportunity of seeing a bundle of thirty or forty of these tail 

 feathers, which were brought from China, and I found amongst 

 them specimens of every length from 18in. to 7ft/^ The 

 species was named by Latham P. superhus. Temminck 

 described it under the title of Faisan superbe in his " Pigeons 

 et Gallinaces/' published in 1813. At this date it was known 

 to him only by the two central tail feathers, and the drawings- 

 of native Chinese artists. Subsequently, however, he obtained 

 a skin of the male, which he figured in his " Planches 

 coloriees,'' giving it the erroneous name of P. veneratus. This 

 plate was copied on a reduced scale in Jardine's "Naturalist's 

 Library," published in 1834. Dr. J. E. Gray, in his " Indian 

 Zoology,^' named the bird after the gentleman by whom it 

 was introduced into England, and by this name it is now 

 generally known. 



The successful introduction of the living birds now in 

 England is owing to the combined efforts of the late Mr. 

 John J. Stone and Mr. Walter H. Medhurst, H.M. Consul at- 

 Hankow. Owing to their exertions, this splendid pheasant 

 is now firmly established in this country, and like the P. 

 versicolor and P. torquatus, is to be seen at large in our woods,, 

 and specimens are not infrequently to be bought in the 

 wholesale markets. 



For several years Mr. Stone made continuous efforts to 

 obtain this and other new pheasants from Northern China, 

 but with no satisfactory results until the aid of Mr. Medhurst 

 was obtained. It is mainly due to that gentleman's thorough 

 knowledge of the natives of China, and of their language,, 

 that the true habitat of this bird was ascertained, and an 

 experienced Chinaman sent into the interior for the purpose 

 of collecting this and other rare pheasants, of which coloured 

 drawings had been supplied for his guidance. 



The first three lots of birds obtained all died before 

 reaching England, with the exception of one male, which 

 lived for about three months. The fourth lot was obtained 

 in the direction of Syechney, about thirty days' journey from 



