CHAPTER XYII. 



PHEASANTS ADAPTED TO THE COVERT 

 (CONTINUED). 



SGEMMEREING'S PHEASANT {PHA8TANU8 

 SCE3niERRINGII). 



EOEMMERRING'S pheasant is an exquisitely beautiful 

 iJ iSI ^ species inliabiting Japan. In the southern islands, 

 ^Ite' ^ Kin- Shin and Hondo, it is very numerous, and is 



commonly exposed for sale in the markets of Nagasaki. 

 In other districts of the country its place seems 

 to be supplied by the P. versicolor. The bird was 

 known to Temminckby the dried skins, but recently the living 

 animal has been introduced into aviaries in Europe, and it has 

 bred in the zoological gardens in London and Antwerp, In 

 the Regent's Park Garden it first bred, according to Bartlett, 

 in 1865, when the female laid ten eggs, but only a few 

 birds were hatched, and the young birds died in a few days. 

 Since then the breeding has been more successful, and mature 

 specimens have been reared. 



The species, however, is but ill-adapted to breed in con- 

 finement, as the males are excessively pugnacious — not only 

 destroying one another, but even killing the females. This 

 tendency is probably developed by captivity, and no doubt, if 

 placed in a free range, Soemmerring's pheasant would prove 

 as fertile as the other species. The late Mr. A. D. Bartlett, 

 writing of this species in Elliot's monograph, says : '^ Amongst 

 the Phasianidffi some species are remarkable for their 



