18G6.J MR. D. SAURIN ON THE PHEASANTS OF PEKIN. 437 



Russian port of Poussiet, conterminous with Corea, the same Pheasant 

 abounds. I myself have seen them wild in the Imperial hunting- 

 grounds north of Jehol, and in the mountains near Ku-peh-kow. 



2. The Pucrasia xanthospila*, by the Chinese called Sung-chi, 

 or " Pine-fowl." This bird is always to be found in the Pekin market, 

 though in far inferior numbers to the Common Pheasant ; they are 

 brought unfrozen, and sometimes alive, and never, as far as I have 

 seen, by the Mongols ; they consequently are probably confined to 

 the mountains enclosing China proper on the north and west. The 

 only place from which, to my knowledge, they have been brought is 

 the Tung-lin, or eastern woods, where are the tombs of the present 

 dynasty, about 100 miles north-east of Pekin, amongst the issues of 

 the mountains which run down into the plain east of Ku-peh-kow, 

 or the old north gate through the Great Wall. The Sungchi is 

 considered very good eating, and its flesh has a rather peculiar aro- 

 matic flavour. 



3. The Reeves's Pheasant (Ph. reevesii), called by the Chinese 

 Chi-chi, is seen very rarely in the Pekin market. For a long 

 time I failed to discover from what quarter they came, as some spe- 

 cimens had been obtained at Tientsing, and some people pretended 

 they were brought from Shantung. Last winter, however, I ascer- 

 tained that they, too, came from the Tung-lin ; and I have reason to 

 suppose that they are to be found nowhere else in the province of 

 Chi-li. About twenty birds were brought down alive last winter. 

 They are never brought in frozen, or by Mongols. Their flesh is 

 very delicious, and superior, to my taste, to that of any other Pheasant. 



4. Pallas's Eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon auritum) is found rarely 

 in the market, though perhaps oftener than the Reeves's Pheasant. 

 It is not found in the Tung-lin, but in the mountains to the north- 

 west of Pekin, within the Great Wall, about 100 miles distant. The 

 place is well known for its coal-mines, and has frequently been 

 visited by Europeans, amongst others by the French Minister, M. 

 Bertheney, the French Missionaries, and several of our Student In- 

 terpreters. M. Bertheney, who is a sportsman and fond of natural 

 history, thinks that, taking into consideration the comparative tame- 

 ness of the bird, and the fact that since Europeans have come to 

 Pekin the peasants have always found a good market for the nests, 

 this rare bird, which, so far as we know, is only to be found at this 

 one spot, cannot fail soon to become extinct. Chinese guides, it is 

 true, have assured me that it is to be found in the Wei-chung, or 

 Imperial hunting-grounds, which I passed through last autumn ; but 

 no reliance can be placed on their statements, even if the bird were 

 called by the same name in so very distant a part of the country. 



The Chinese name is Ho-chi, either "River-fowl" or "Fire-fowl." 

 The translation depends on the character ; and the peasants, who 

 give it the name, know nothing of characters ; while the students, 

 who know characters, are quite ignorant of natural history. 



Pallas's Pheasant is never brought by Mongols, or frozen ; there- 

 fore ' mantchuricum' (the name applied to it by Mr. Swinhoe) is a 



* Described and figured by Mr. G. It. Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 259, pi. xx. 



