THE PHEASANT. 327 



Change of plumage in the female. 



assume the elegant plumage of the male; but 

 with pheasants, in a state of confinement, those 

 that take their new plumage always become bar- 

 ren, and are spurned and buffetted by the rest. 

 From what took place in a hen pheasant, in the 

 possession of a lady, a friend of Sir Joseph Banks, 

 it would seem probable, that this change arises 

 from some alteration of temperament at a late 

 period of the animal's life. This lady had paid 

 particular attention to the breeding of pheasants. 

 One of the hens, after having produced several 

 broods, moulted, and the succeeding feathers 

 were exactly those of a cock. This animal 

 never afterwards had young ones. Similar ob- 

 servations have been made respecting the pea- 

 hen. Lady Tynte had a favorite one, which at 

 eight several times produced chicks. Having 

 moulted when about eleven years old, the lady 

 and her family were astonished by her displaying 

 the feathers peculiar to the male, and appearing 

 like a pied peacock. In this process the tail, 

 which was like that of the cock, first appeared. 

 In the following year she moulted again, and 

 produced similar feathers. In the third year she 

 did the same, and then had also spurs resembling 

 those of the cock. The hen never bred after 

 this change of her plumage. She is now pre- 

 served in the Leverian Museum. 



The pheasant is much attached to the shelter 

 of thickets and woods where the grass is very 

 long; but, like the partridge, the female often 



