Hybrid Birds 207 
orange, the red of the Amherst pheasant’s crest and the yellow of the golden bird’s 
being perfectly blended. He often has the pure white ruff of the Amberst, but 
sometimes, as in the present specimen, it is only of a pale gold. 
On the other hand, the hybrid between the golden and common pheasants seems 
unfertile, the species being much more remote; nor can it fairly compare in beauty 
with either parent, although a handsome bird. At first sight its origin does not seem 
at all obvious, as the colours and markings of both parents have disappeared. The 
general hue is a rich golden auburn or chestnut, the tail bemg buff and the neck 
glossed with purple. The characteristic ruff of the golden pheasant almost disappears 
in the hybrid, as does also the hackle in fowl-and-pheasant hybrids. 
There is in the Natural History Museum a most remarkable double hybrid pheasant, 
the offspring of a hybrid between Reeves’ Pheasant (Phasianws reevesi) and the Common 
Pheasant (P. colchicus) crossed again with the Silver Pheasant (Genneus nycthemerus), 
the latter species belonging to a quite distinct group of pheasants called the Kaleeges, 
while the Reeves’ and Common are not by any means remarkably closely allied. This 
curiously-bred bird is very handsome, being white above, pencilled with black and brown, 
and a sort of plum-puddimg mixture of black and brown beneath. 
The most distant crosses on record occur amongst these gallinaceous 
birds. Hybrids between the Peacock and Guinea-Fowl, Capercailzie 
and Pheasant, and Red Grouse and Bantam Fowl have been 
recorded, while even one of the Guans is crossed in 
Mexico with the domestic fowl and used as a 
fighting bird. The guans are always  ad- 
mitted to belong to a distinct family 
of the game-birds, having a large 
hind-toe like a pigeon, and 
spending a large part of 
their time in trees. Several 
species, with them allies the 
Curassows, are often to be seen 
at the Zoological Gardens, but this 
Chacalacca or Mexican Guan (Ortalis 
vetula), above alluded to, is not on view 
(Common and Golden). there at the time of writing: 
A good deal of fuss has been made over the not Tuheseloneovanto cross 
between the Hgyptian Goose (Chenalopex cegyptiaca) and the Ruddy Sinelalvalce 
(Casarca rutila) as being a very remote one. But this 1s not really the case ; the Heyptian 
Goose is merely a large sheldrake, and is called a goose by the same right as a big 
buzzard is often promoted to the vank of an eagle. This hybrid, of which I have seen at 
least four specimens, is, however, very remarkable in its one-sided character. As may be 
seen by the accompanying illustrations, the Ruddy Sheldrake has proved strongly prepotent ; 
indeed, were it not for its pink legs, shghtly greater size and taller figure, and dull colour, 
the hybrid could scarcely be distinguished from a pure bird of that species, the very marked 
characteristics of the Egyptian Goose disappearing almost completely except in the legs. 
The specimen shown, from the Zoological Gardens, is a male. Its voice 1s a husky 
chatter as in the male Egyptian Goose, whose influence is here apparently dominant, 
since the male Ruddy Sheldrake has as strong a voice as the female. It used to have a 
mate of the same cross, but her eggs were always unfertile. This was also the case, as I 
am told by the bird-keeper at St. James’s Park, with those of an Egyptian Goose which 
was mated to a similar male hybrid this year. This hybrid and a brother were bred on 
the St. James’s Park lake not long ago, but the bird in the Zoo is a very old stager. 
Photo by 
W. P. Dando. 
HYBRID PHEASANT 
