658 

 A REVISION OF THE GENUS GBNNMV8. 



BY 



E. 0. Stuart Baker, F.Z.S., F.L.S., M.B.O.U. 



{With 3 Plates and 2 Ma;ps.) 



Since 1890, consequent upon the opening up of Burmah and the 

 adjacent States, more especially the Eastern Chin Hills, Shan States, 

 and other districts in the East and North-East, a great number of 

 skins have been obtained of both Kalij and Silver Pheasants, 

 species w^hich had hitherto been represented in Museums by very 

 few specimens. From time to time, as these skins came to hand, 

 many species were described as new, generally uipon single speci- 

 mens only, and sometimes upon mere fragments. In regard to 

 some of the species thus named, the receipt of further material has 

 rendered naturalists, including those responsible for the new names, 

 doubtful as to the specific value of the alleged differences. 



In 1909, Professor Ghigi attempted a revision of this genus in 

 Mem. Acad. Scient. Bologna, pp. 133-174, and in this article ac- 

 cepts twenty-four species as good, besides describing a large number 

 of individuals as hybrids. It is self-evident, however, that, at least 

 in some cases, Ghigi had not before him the actual specimens upon 

 which he discourses. Thus he dwells upon the supposed differences 

 between Ge^inceus jonesi and Gennceus ripponi, although these two 

 so-called species are described, by Oates and Sharpe respectively, 

 from one and the same skin. 



Further, we find that in some cases members of the same brood 

 have been divided into two or more species, whilst in yet other in- 

 stances the cock and hen of a pair of birds have been considered to 

 be different, possibly owing to the fact that at the time thej'" were 

 named, the conditions under which they had been shot were not 

 known to the namer. 



It appears therefore that a further revision of this beautiful genus 

 is urgently required. Before, however, considering in detail which 

 of the very numerous forms hitherto described as species are really 

 entitled to this rank and which are, on the other hand, merely sub- 

 species, hybrids or individual variations, it may be as well to consi- 

 der briefly the genus as a whole, more especially in reference to the 

 way in which these variations may have arisen. 



The genus Gennceus includes the birds generally known by the 

 trivial names of Kalij and Silver Pheasants, and is one which gives 

 a most interesting and, at the same time, exceptional insight into 

 Nature's evolution of species and sub-species. 



Amongst the pheasants we are considering, there appear to be 

 three dominant types, the principal characteristics of which seem to 



