262 Zoologica : N. Y. Zoological Society. [I ; 15 



observed in one genus after another, the succession of genera 

 decided often by mere accessibility of the drawers in which 

 the skins were kept. 



For inclusion in the Monograph I had long ago chosen ar- 

 bitrarily to begin with Ithaginis and passing through the more 

 typical Pheasants and through Gallus and Argusianus, to in- 

 clude Pavo, thus accepting on the whole the latter half of the 

 family Phasianidae as defined by R. Bowdler Sharpe.i Of the 

 twenty-two genera which he lists I admit nineteen and these 

 I have separated into four sub-families by the mode of moult 

 of the rectrices. 



From the very first day of my two years' field work among 

 the wild pheasants, I made strenuous efforts to assemble a 

 collection of immature, and of moulting adult birds, rather than 

 the fully feathered adults which comprise most museum collec- 

 tions. In this I was successful in the case of all but two genera 

 and when I came to examine carefully the pheasants in various 

 museums I was surprised to find many in actual moult, although 

 outwardly presenting no hint of this condition. So I had no 

 dearth of material of feral birds and in no case had I to depend 

 upon captive specimens, although where I have been able to 

 examine the latter, the conditions have been found to be iden- 

 tical with those observed in the wild shot pheasants. 



Not until I had nearly completed my studies did I come 

 across Dr. Bureau's most interesting works on "I'Age des Per- 

 drix." His eleven years of careful and methodical study of the 

 moults of the European Partridge and his equally careful study 

 of the plumage ontogeny of the Red-legged Partridge shows 

 beyond question how regular and reliable is the developmental 

 and seasonal succession of feathers, and that in this respect it is 

 as valuable and trustworthy a character as the color, pattern 

 or form of any dermal structure. When, by the process of 

 elimination, the character of rectrice moult of pheasants alone 

 held my interest, I carefully reviewed the specimens and evi- 

 dence, and confirmed my results. Nevertheless, let me empha- 

 size, what, in the stimulation of the discovery of what appears 

 to be a new, significant, taxonomic factor, one is apt to forget, 



]. A Hand-T.ist of the Genera and Species of Birds, Vol. T. pp. 33-40. 



