ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



shock, whicli tlity will innocently report as 

 seismic disturbance. 



"Hoping to receive a detailed letter, I am, 

 "Yours very truly, 

 Sei)teml)er !■. 1913. "R. L. G.\r.\'KR." 



THE MIKADO PHE.\SANT. 

 Bij C. William Hekbe. 



PERHAPS the rarest bird which has been 

 acquired by the Zoological Society during 

 the past year is the Mikado Pheasant, a 

 cock and two hens being now in the pheasant 

 aviary. The cock is blue-black, with a purple 

 fringe to the feathers of the neck, mantle and 

 breast, eacii enclosing a velvety black spot. 

 The remainder of the upper plumage is edged 

 with steel-blue. The secondaries and many of 

 the wing-coverts are tipped with white, while 

 the tail feathers have white cross-bars. The 

 female is harmoniously clotiied in quiet hues of 

 olive-brown, rufous and buff. 



Seven years ago jNIr. Goodfellow, while on a 

 collecting trip in the highlands of Formosa ob- 

 tained two long black and white tail-feathers of 

 an unknown species of pheasant which were 

 subsequently placed in the British ■Museum and 

 received the name of Cidopliasis mikado. These 

 were obtained from the head-dress of a native 

 hunter. 



The following year tiie skin of an adult male 

 was obtained, but nothing was learned of the 

 living bird or its habits until 1912 when Mr. 

 Goodfellow went to :\Iount Arizan in central 

 Formosa and with much difficulty secured no 

 fewer than eleven live Mik.idos, eight cocks and 

 three hens. 



These birds are confined to the steep slopes 

 of this one mountain and as the birds will prob- 

 ably soon be exterminated every fact in regard 

 to their life history is of interest. 



These splendid pheasants do not occur be- 

 low an elevation of a mile above the sea and 

 keep to the sharp ridges which jut out from the 

 mountain. In many places these slopes are cov- 

 ered with thick forest, in addition to an equally 

 dense undergrowth of bamboo higher than a 

 man. In such places, with the dominant trees 

 cypress, junipers, oaks and pines, the hardy 

 birds make their home. On some of the slopes, 

 tiie stee|)ness and rocky character permit only a 

 growth of grass and here it is impossible for a 

 man to descend without the aid of a rope. In 

 early morning and evening the birds come out 

 of the dense forest, over the ridge to feed on 

 the slopes, and it was only by setting hundreds 



of snares along the summit of this ridge that it 

 was possible to capture tiie pheasants alive. 

 They were scattered and not numerous and sel- 

 dom were any observed. Besides the pheasants, 

 tree partridges, pigeons, babbling tiiruslies, 

 woodcocks and a monkey were captured in the 

 snares. 



Once a cock and two hens were seen, the lat- 

 ter flying down the cliffs at once, and the for- 

 mer remaining behind clucking until a second 

 Mik.-ido cock was flushed. The birds could not 

 be baited with grain and indeed their diet 

 seemed to consist chiefly of green food and vari- 

 ous insects. When captured it was with diffi- 

 culty that they were taught to eat rice. Mar- 

 tens seem to be the worst enemy these pheas- 

 ants have, and after the birds were in camp in 

 cages, these blood-thirsty animals would come 

 close to the tents, requiring constant vigilance 

 to keep them from injuring the birds. Botii 

 se.\es of the Mikado pheasant make a cheeping 

 noise like young turkej's, and when cornered 

 and frightened, the cock hisses like a snake. In 

 a wild state tliey nest about the end of April. 



The hardiness of these pheasants is evident 

 from the fact that not a bird was lost in transit, 

 and all reached England safely, where they 

 were de])osited in the aviaries of Mrs. John- 

 stone. Here in the summer of 1912 1 saw them 

 and was thrilled at the thought of their rarity 

 as only an enthusiastic ornithologist can be. 

 The females laid in due season, and from ten 

 eggs sent to the London Zoo nine chicks were 

 hatched. Of these the New York Zoological 

 Society has been fortunate enough to secure a 

 trio of birds in perfect healtii, from which it is 

 hoped to maintain the species in this country. 



Tiiese piieasants in spite of the very dirttrent 

 coloring of the cocks, are closely related to El- 

 liot's Pheasant. The period of incubation, how- 

 ever, is twenty-eight instead of twenty-four 

 days, and the eggs are larger and the chicks 

 darker than their allv of the mainland of Asia. 



IV'uid Cat')- Bison Herd. — Tlie herd of bison 

 which left the Zoological Park in charge of 

 Chief Clerk .Mitchell. Mr. Rush and .Mr. Dille 

 arrived at tiie Wind Cave National P.irk on 

 schedule time. Instead of stock cars, tiie Amer- 

 ican Express Company provided two steel ex- 

 press ears with modern equipment for running 

 in high sjieed ex))ress trains. The bison were 

 swiftly crated, placed in the cars at Fordham, 

 New Y'ork City, and travelled the entire dis- 

 tance in fast express trains. Mr. Mitchell re- 

 ))i)rts that all connections were closely made 

 and the bison safelv liberated on tlitir range. 



