270 PHEASANTS 



pheasant a very old cock bird. The latter was spoken of as 

 an extraordinary circumstance in this country, and from what 

 I heard, it appears to be one that several people had been a 

 long time in pursuit of. I got a random shot at a woodcock, 

 which I could see nothing of at the moment of firing ; and as 

 the lairds of this country take especial good care to turn their 

 timber into money before it is large enough to bear a man's 

 weight, I was prevented being able to mount my marker in a 

 tree, which is, of course, the sure way to secure a woodcock for 

 the bag.' 



Colonel Hawker's pheasant, doubtless, was one of the 

 old Colchic breed, which, as I have said, is scarcely now 

 to be found of pure strain in these islands, owing to the 

 freedom with which it crosses with the ring-necked 

 pheasant (P. torquatus), which was introduced from 

 China early in the nineteenth century. It is hard to 

 say which is the more beautiful bird ; the Colchic cock 

 excels in deep, rich tones of colour, while the plumage of 

 the ring-necked pheasant is in a lighter key, with buff 

 flanks and grayish-blue rump and upper wing-coverts. 

 The ring-necked cock also carries a buff cap on the top 

 of his beetle-green neck. The hybrid between the two 

 races is inferior to both in coloration. A third species, 

 the Japanese P. versicolor, distinguished by a wondrous 

 green lustre reflected from the plumage in certain lights, 

 has been naturalised with us lately, to add to the con- 

 fusion; and as the hybrids of all three breed freely 

 together, it is hopeless to attempt regaining a pure strain. 

 As for the fourth species, which, were the ground unoc- 

 cupied, would thrive and multiply in our woods, the 

 magnificent Reeves pheasant, with its snowy head, gold- 

 spangled coat, and immensely long, barred tail, its per- 

 manency must ever be precarious, because of its readiness 



