THE AMHERST PHEASANT. 221 



perfectly good species ; but what is the test o£ a species ? 

 For my own part, I am suflBciently heterodox in my belief to 

 regard all the true restricted pheasants, such as P. colchicus, 

 versicolor, torquatus, shaicii, mongolictis, elegans, &c., as mere 

 geographical variations of one type, capable of breeding 

 together and perpetuating any cross that it may please 

 experimenters to produce ; and in the same manner the two 

 species of the genus Thaumalea, namely, the Gold and Amherst 

 pheasants, may be regarded as geographical races capable of 

 yielding a permanent race intermediate between the two. 



These views, which I maintained at the time of the publica- 

 tion of the first edition of this work in 1873, have been fully 

 borne out by later experience. In March, 1881, Mr. A. D. 

 Bartlett, the superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, wrote 

 to me : " The hybrid Amherst and Gold pheasants breed freely 

 inter se ; but, as far as I can learn, inmost cases the breeders 

 have been breeding the half-bred hens with the pure Amherst 

 males, for the purpose of obtaining as near as possible the 

 characters of the pure Amherst ; and this is very quickly 

 accomplished, for in the third generation all traces of the 

 Gold pheasant are lost, or nearly so.^^ 



The late Mr. Home, writing to me in 1879, said : "With 

 regard to the Gold and Amherst pheasants being tui-ned out 

 by landed proprietors, I know of a place in Ireland where 

 there are large numbers of these birds breeding together in 

 a wild state, and some of the crosses are very beautiful. 

 There is also an estate in Scotland where Amhersts have 

 been at liberty for years, and the owner wrote me they kept 

 their own quarters, not allowing the other pheasants to 

 interfere with them. I agree with you that it is a pity more 

 of these birds are not turned out, as they form a great 

 attraction to pleasure grounds. The easiest way to bring it 

 about is to place a brood or two under hens in the kitchen 

 garden ; and, as they become fully grown, they naturally fly 

 to the adjoining trees, and continue to hang about the place 

 afterwards." 



