PHEASANTS. 425 



end of the winter, they seldom congregate much together." Unlike the great 



majority of their kind, these birds do not separate after the business of incubation 



is over, and probably pair for life, since at whatever season one is found, its mate is 



sure to be met with somewhere near. Their flight is extremely rapid, more so 



than that of any other Himalayan pheasant, and when they dart down the side of 



the mountains it requires an experienced shot to stop them. The nest is placed at 



the root of a tree, or under some overhanging tuft of grass, and contains from five 



to nine eggs, resembling those of the monal in colour. 



Before mentioning the true pheasants, it may be observed that 

 Tru6 Pli6a.sajits. x ' t/ 



the well-known chir-pheasant (Catreus wallichi), from the middle 



ranges of the Himalaya, alone represents an allied genus. Resembling in general 



form and the shape of the tail the true pheasants, it lacks the bright metallic 



plumage of those birds, while the wing is of the monal type, with the first primary 



shorter than the tenth ; the head being adorned with a full large crest, most 



developed in the males. Inhabitants of low-lying wooded valleys, and including 



about a couple of dozen of gorgeously -coloured species and varieties, the true 



pheasants range from South-Eastern Europe across Central Asia to Japan and 



Formosa. As already pointed out, the wing in all these birds is partridge-like, and 



differs from the characteristic monal type, the first flight-feather being much longer 



than the tenth ; but, unlike the partridges, the tail is long and wedge-shaped — 



much longer than the wing. ' The sides of the head are naked, and there is no 



crest ; but the ear-tufts are considerably lengthened in the male, and the legs are 



armed with a pair of sharp spurs. The home of the common pheasant (Phasianus 



colchicus) is South-Eastern Europe and Asia Minor, although the bird has for many 



centuries been established in Great Britain and various parts of the Continent to 



the west of its original habitat. The male has the top of the head bronze-green, 



and the rest of the head and neck dark green, shading into purple on the sides and 



front of the latter ; the mantle, chest, breast, and flanks are fiery orange-red with 



a purplish green margin to each feather ; the middle of the back and scapulars 



mottled and beautifully patterned with buff", black, and orange-red ; the lower back 



and tail-coverts red, glossed with purplish lake ; and the wing-coverts sandy brown. 



The middle of the breast and sides of the under-parts are glossed with dark purplish 



green, the rest of the under-parts being brown mixed with rufous ; the tail-feathers 



are light olive-green, the middle pair being barred along the middle with black ; 



the naked skin on the sides of the face is scarlet-vermilion ; and the legs and feet 



are brownish horn colour. The female is mostly sandy brown, marked and barred 



with black and buff", shading into chestnut on the mantle and sides of the breast. 



The majority of the species allied to the common pheasant may be divided 



into two groups, namely, those inhabiting that part of Central Asia west of the 



meridian of Calcutta, which have the rump and upper tail-coverts maroon or rufous, 



sometimes glossed with green ; while in all the forms found to the eastward of that 



line these parts are greenish or bluish slate-colour. In the most westerly forms of 



the first group, such as the common pheasant and the nearly-allied Persian pheasant 



(P. persicus), which differs in having the wing-coverts white, and inhabits the 



valleys to the south-east of the Caspian, there is no white ring on the neck, but 



as we go eastwards we find other species, such as Severtzow's pheasant (P. 



