PHASIANUS 659 



Faisan. French ; Fagiano, Ital. ; Edelfasan, German ; Fasan, 

 Swed. ; Madsharski-Petuck, Russ. 



ad. (Asia Minor). Head and upper neck black, on the crown and 

 nape glossed with bottle-green, and on the sides of the head, chin, and 

 upper neck with violet-purple ; lower neck, breast, and upper back 

 feathers black at the base, then rufescent golden margined with black, 

 some with an apical black spot ; scapulars and rest of back coppery purple, 

 most of the feathers with a central buff horseshoe mark ; quills dark brown 

 slightly barred with ochreous buff ; wing-coverts golden olivaceous varied 

 with ochreous and coppery purple ; rump and upper tail-coverts fiery 

 reddish glossed with purple ; tail golden olivaceous barred with black ; 

 flanks like the breast but more golden orange in tinge ; middle of abdomen 

 bluish black ; wattles on the sides of the head rich blood-red ; legs dull 

 brown ; iris dark brown. Culmen 1*2, wing 9'3, tail 18'2, middle feathers- 

 13'5 longer than the outside ones, tarsus 2*7 inch. The female has the 

 upper parts blackish, broadly margined with clay-buff, the neck washed 

 with vinaceous ; under parts clay-buff vermiculated with blackish, the 

 black bases showing here and there especially on the flanks and neck ; 

 quills and wing-coverts dark brown variegated with clay-buff ; tail dull 

 ochreous vermiculated with blackish, the middle feathers blacker and 

 tinged with rufous ; wattles absent. 



Hob. South-eastern Europe (Greece and Turkey), Asia Minor, 

 north to the Volga, south to the Caucasus, east to Transcaucasia ; 

 introduced and naturalised in most parts of temperate Europe. 



First introduced into England by the Romans, it is believed, 

 the Pheasant has spread throughout the United Kingdom, and 

 is one of our most esteemed game birds ; it inhabits the wood- 

 lands and groves, especially where the undergrowth is thick, 

 and damp places, and feeds on grain of various kinds, acorns, 

 beech-mast, and other seeds, berries, and insects, &c. The usual 

 call is a loud cock, cock, cock, but the pairing note of the male is 

 a feeble crow, and is followed by a clapping of the wings. The 

 Pheasant is polygamous, and in the spring the males fight for 

 the possession of the females. The nest is a depression in 

 the soil lined with dry grass, roots, and leaves, and the eggs, 

 usually 10 to 12 in number, are uniform pale olivaceous brown 

 in colour, sometimes with a bluish tinge, and measure about 

 1-79 by 140. 



It has been known to use a deserted owl's or squirrel's nest for 

 the purpose of nidification, but this is uncommon, it being as a 

 rule, a ground breeder. I have carefully compared specimens of 

 Mr. Lorenz's P. septentrionalis, and cannot find any difference 

 between it and true P. colchicus. 



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