220 LETTER FROM DR. LAMPREY. [Nov. 11, 
November 11, 1862. 
Professor Huxley, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair. 
The Secretary read the following extracts from a letter addressed 
to him by Dr. Lamprey, dated Shanghai, July 31st, 1862 :— 
“T have forwarded by H.M. Steam Transport ‘ Urgent,’ which 
sailed from Shanghai on the 14th inst., three couples of the Pha- 
sianus superbus ; at least, I suppose this to be the proper desig- 
nation of these birds from their fulfilling the description of that bird 
in the ‘ Naturalist’s Library.’ I procured six males last winter at 
Tien Tsin, where they were sold in the market for the table, like 
other game-birds. The beauty of the birds, then in good plumage, 
and the remarkable length of their tail-feathers were very striking ; 
and I hope their safe arrival in England will afford an opportunity 
of seeing them recover their plumage and tails, which have been 
sadly damaged by confinement. Subsequently I procured five females 
of the same species by sending a man to the interior, north of Pekin, 
where they are to be found—though I| have strong suspicions that all 
my specimens came from the Tung Ling, or eastern burial-place of 
the Emperors, situated some distance north-east of Pekin, in a 
mountainous district. It is the custom to place all kinds of game 
in the extensively enclosed grounds of the Imperial burial-places, 
where they are carefully preserved; but no doubt the mandarins in 
charge make a good perquisite by disposing of the superfluous stock 
every winter. 
“These birds are, however, to be found in the mountainous country 
north of Pekin, in Shantung, also in Shansi : in the latter province, 
I am informed, there is also a Pheasant of a beautiful scarlet colour, 
though of very small size. I have seen a drawing of this bird in a 
mandarin’s house in Tien Tsin, and would have supposed it to be a 
sketch from fancy, were it not that I was previously informed of the 
existence of a bird of which this might have been a good representa- 
tion. With regard to the drawings of birds on Chinese fans, screens, 
&c., I was hitherto, like others, under the impression that they were 
altogether imaginary ; the brilliant colouring, attitudes, almost gro- 
tesque, and strange outlines lead one to this conclusion; but from 
seeing a great variety of birds in the country, and having had the 
opportunity of comparing them with Chinese drawings, I find that 
they are all more or less good representations of birds which exist in 
reality. Unfortunately that which constitutes the chief merit of a 
Chinese artist is his skill in sketching from memory ; otherwise, were 
they to pay more attention to minute detail, their drawings would 
give us a good idea of the ornithology of the country. 
“Tt might be said that the foregoing remarks do not hold good 
with regard to the Fung or Pheenix of the Chinese, which is evi- 
dently one of the Pheasant tribe: it does not require any close ex- 
amination of the Chinese drawing to see this, which corroborates in 
a great measure the notions of the early western philosophers, who 
held that the Phoenix was derived from a Pheasant, and not from an 
