24 



BIRD GALLERY. 



[Case 10.] female. A second moult takes place in September, when the short 

 feathers of the neck are cast, and again replaced by hackles, the 

 wing- and long tail-feathers having by this time been renewed. This 

 temporary plumage is doubtless protective, and parallel cases may be 

 seen in the Black Grouse and in many of the Ducks. 



It is from the Red Jungle-Fowl [G. g alius) (89) that all the domestic 

 breeds of poultry are said to have been originally derived, and remark- 

 able examples of these varieties may be seen in the Central Hall of the 

 Museum. One of the most singular comes from Japan, and has extra- 

 ordinarily elongate tail-coverts, said in some cases to attain a length of 

 more than 12 feet. It is well known that the descendants of domestic 

 fowls which have been allowed to escape and run wild in some of the 

 islands of the Malay Archipelago soon revert to the wild type, and after 

 a few generations become indistinguishable from the Red Jungle- 

 Fowl of North India. In Ceylon a different species (G. lafayetti) (90; 

 is found, the breast-feathers of the male being orange-red, while in the 

 female they are white margined with black. 



The Golden Pheasant (91) and Lady Amherst's Pheasant (92), the 

 only representatives of the genus Chrysolophus, are natives of the 

 mountains of Western China and Eastern Tibet. The splendid plumage 

 of the males is not surpassed by that of any other bird of the Pheasant 

 tribe ; but the beautiful white cape and underparts and quieter colouring 

 of the Lady Amherst are, perhaps, more attractive than the more gaudy 

 plumage of the Golden Pheasant. 

 11 19^1 ^^^ ^^"^ Pheasants {Phasianus and Calophasis) are, for many reasons, 

 the most important as well as the most beautiful of all the Game-Birds. 

 As already remarked, they are peculiar among the Phasianina in having 

 the first flight-feather considerably longer than the tenth. The most 

 familiar examples of the former genus are the Common Pheasant 

 {Phasianus colchicus) (96) and the Chinese Ring-necked Pheasant 

 (P. torquatus) (98) . Both of these have been introduced into the greater 

 part of Europe and Great Britain. It is not exactly known when the 

 former, which is found wild in South-eastern Europe and Asia Minor, was 

 first brought to England, but it is mentioned in the bills-of-fare of the 

 Saxon kings. The Chinese species, imported at a much later date, has 

 interbred so freely with the Common or " Old English '^ Pheasant, that 

 pure-bred birds of either species are now rarely met with in this country. 



About eighteen diff'erent species of Phasianus are found in Asia, and 

 of these the majority resemble the Common Pheasant type in the 

 general colour of their plumage, and a number are shewn in the Case. 



The Japanese Pheasant (P. versicolor) (97) and Soemraerring's 

 Pheasant (P. scemmerringi) (102), found in the same islands, are 

 somewhat different types, while Reeves' Pheasant (P. reevesi) (1 04), from 



