APRIL 55 



incubation, remains as inconspicuous as ever. In no 

 class of birds is this precautionary principle carried 

 further than among the pheasants. The contrast be- 

 tween the sexes is remarkable enough in the common 

 pheasant, which, in Great Britain, is now a sad mongrel 

 of breeds ; for the original Phasianus colchicus the 

 old black pheasant, as gamekeepers call it with no 

 white collar to break the splendour of his beetle- 

 green neck, has been irretrievably crossed to its detri- 

 ment with the Chinese ring-neck (P. torquatus) the 

 green Japanese pheasant (P. versicolor), and, more 

 lately, with the Mongolian pheasant, a bird of superior 

 weight but inferior beauty to the other three. But 

 for extravagant contrast between the attire of husband 

 and wife there is nothing to compare with the golden 

 pheasant (Thaumalea picta). To those who value 

 pheasants only as flying targets, this extraordinary 

 bird may present no attraction, seeing that by no 

 ingenuity can it be induced to behave as a rocketer. 

 But to anybody who enjoys beauty for its own sake, 

 the presence of golden pheasants is a constant source 

 of pleasure. The late Professor Newton pronounced 

 them to be ' only fitted for an aviary,' a singular mis- 

 direction on the part of so high an authority, for they 

 thrive perfectly in all parts of our country, breeding 

 freely in the woods, and living in perfect harmony with 

 the common pheasants. Game-preservers are pre- 

 judiced against them because of their reputation for 

 pugnacity ; but the charge is unfounded ; they are 

 peaceable creatures, though the same cannot be said of 

 the more powerful silver pheasant. 



