468 



THE SILVER PHEASANT. 



velvety-black. The whole raff can be raised or depressed at will. Fly-fishers hold the crest 

 and riiff of this bird in great value, as many of their best artificial baits owe their chief beauty 

 to the Golden Pheasant. Jnst below the rnff comes a patch of scale-like rounded feathers o! 

 dark glossy-green, over which the ends of the ruff feathers play as the bird moves its head, 

 and below them the 

 back is wholly of a 

 bright golden - yel- 

 low, enriched on the 

 upper tail - coverts 

 by a crimson edg- 

 ing. The primary 

 and the second- 

 ary feathers of the 

 wings are a rich 

 brown barred with 

 chestnut, and their 

 bases are deep blue. 

 The breast and ab- 

 domen are brightest 

 scarlet, and the tail 

 is rich chestnut 

 mottled with black. 

 The eye is bright, 

 glancing, and of a 

 whitish yellow. 



These magnifi- 

 cent colors only be- 

 long to the male 

 bird, the female be- 

 ing reddish-brown spotted and marked with a darker hue, 

 and the tail is short. 



The second ruffed Pheasant is that which is known by 

 the name of Amiieest's Pheasant {TJumnuilea amMrs- 

 ticp), also a native of China. This magnificent bird has 

 a wonderfully long and broad tail, quite as remarkable as 

 that of Reeves' Pheasant. The crest of this beautiful bird 

 is scarlet, the tippet is snowy-whit(% each feather being tipped with 

 velvety -black, the shoulders are rich shining green, the abdomen 

 pure white, and the tail is white, barred with dark gi-een, and strik- •;,• 



ingly varied with the scarlet tips of the upper tail-coverts, which are 

 much elongated. 



The Silver Pheasant is another inhabitant of China, and is found 

 chiefly in the northern portions of that country. 



It is one of the largest and most powerful of the tribe to which it 

 belongs, and is said to be a match for a game-cock in fair combat. It is 

 a hardy bird, and, like the Golden Pheasant, has been turned loose into preserves, 

 but Avith even less success. The weight of the bird is generally too great in 

 proportion to its strength of wing, so tliat it does not readily raise itself from the 

 ground, and thereby runs a risk of being devoured by the carnivorous quadrupeds that 

 infest every preserve. Moreover, it is so large, so strong, and so combative, that it fights 

 the common Pheasants, and drives them out of the coverts, so that at present we have to 

 content ourselves with rearing it under the safe protection of brick and wire. 



