SGEMMEBBING'S PHEASANT. 199 



in again acknoAvledging our obligations to Mr. Heine, the 

 accomplished artist of the expedition for the following 

 note : 



" ' On one of my excursions I came very suddenly upon 

 another species of pheasant, of very beautiful colours, and 

 with a very long tail. Being in the midst of briars, and in an 

 iucovenient position, I missed him, or at least did not injure 

 him further than to shoot oif his two long tail feathers. 



" ' Returning on board in the evening, I found that our 

 chaplain, the Rev. George Jones, had purchased a pheasant 

 of the same kind from a Japanese root-digger in the hills. It 

 was not wounded or otherwise injured, and seemed to have 

 been either caught in a trap or found dead. To my inquiries 

 of the Japanese Dutch interpreter whether these birds were 

 ever hunted, I could obtain but evasive answers ; but if, 

 however, such is the case, the right is undoubtedl}^ reserved 

 to the princes and nobility. 



'' ' It appears that both these kinds of pheasants inhabit 

 similar localities, and are abundant over the southern and the 

 middle parts of the island of Nipon, for even during my 

 rambles in the vicinity of Yokohama, in the Bay of Yeddo, 

 I could hear their calls in the little thickets and Avoods 

 scattered over the country.^ 



" For the following note on the bird now before us, and 

 the preceding species, Ave are indebted to the kindness of 

 Joseph Wilson, jun., M.D., of the United States Navy, who 

 Avas attached as surgeon to the squadron of the expedition : — 

 " ' Our acquaintance Avith the pheasants of Japan began 

 soon after our arrival at Simoda, or about the middle of April, 

 1854. A Japanese brought to the landing-place a young bird, 

 Avhich, Avith the dark tips on his doAvny covering, and his 

 frequently repeated " peet-peet," might have been mistaken 

 for a young turkey but for his diminutive size. This inte- 

 resting little felloAv had been obtained by hatching an egg of 

 a Avild pheasant, obtained in the hills, under a domestic foAvl. 



" ' A leAv days after' this a male pheasant in full plumage 



