416 RASORES. PHASIANUS. 



Genus PHASIANUS, Linn. PHEASANT. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill of mean length, strong ; upper mandible convex, 

 naked at the base, and with the tip bent downwards. Nos- 

 trils basal and lateral, covered with a cartilaginous scale. 

 Cheeks and region of the eyes destitute of feathers, and co- 

 vered with a verrucose red skin. Wings short, the first 

 quills equally narrowed towards their tips ; the fourth and 

 fifth the longest. Tail long ; remarkably wedge-shaped ; 

 and composed of eighteen feathers. Feet having the three 

 anterior toes united by a membrane as far as the first joint, 

 and the hind toe articulated vipon the tarsus, which, in the 

 male birds, is furnished with a horny, cone-shaped, sharp 

 spur. 



The only wild European species of this genus, although 

 originally a native of Asia, has for so many years been na- 

 turalized in this quarter of the globe, as to entitle it to hold 

 a station in its Fauna ; and the same apology may be offered 

 for its introduction into the Ornithology of the British Islands. 

 The sexes of this genus differ greatly in plumage ; but in 

 all the moult is ordinary and simple. The males are distin- 

 guished by the brilliancy of their plumage, and by various 

 accessory ornaments ; the other sex is clothed in fainter and 

 more sombi'e hues. They are polygamous. The female 

 makes an artless nest upon the ground, amongst the herbage, 

 and lays a great number of eggs. The flesh of these birds 

 is white, delicate, and highly esteemed. 



