278 Zoologica : A^. Y. Zoological Society. [I ; 15 



Genus Pucrasia, 



The Koklass Pheasants seem to exhibit many difficult prob- 

 lems. The intricate colors and patterns of their plumage, the 

 individual variation, and the wide and irregular distribution, 

 all make toward confusion at first thought. In reality, however, 

 when we eliminate the useless characters and correct the errors 

 due to hasty species diagnoses, the genus proves to be one of the 

 most interesting and suggestive of all the Phasianinae. Its va- 

 rious forms reveal one of the rarest phenomena in nature — 

 a wide-spread series of delicate gradation, and increasing com- 

 plexity within a single, closely related group of living creatures. 

 There is no room for doubt but that we can trace the exact 

 route which these birds have taken in past years, starting in 

 Garhwal in the western Himalayas and after a long trek north- 

 ward, eastward and southward, reaching the seacoast in south- 

 eastern China. 



I recognize the following three species, comprising ten sub- 

 species of this genus : 



Pucrasia macrolopha macrolo'pha (Less.). 

 Pucrasia macrolopha biddulphi Marsh. 

 Pucrasia macrolopha castanea Gould. 

 Pucrasia macrolopha nipalensis Gould. 

 Pucrasia xanthospila xanthospila Gray 

 Pucrasia xanthospila ruficollis David and Oustalet. 

 Pucrasia xanthospila meyeri Madarasz. 

 Pucrasia xanthospila .joretiana Courtois. 

 Pucrasia darwini darwini Swinhoe. 

 Pucrasia darwini styani Grant. 



The character upon which I place most importance in the 

 definition of full species in the genus Pucrasia is the increasing 

 complexity of the mantle pattern (extending also to other 

 parts of the plumage) in the males. In macrolopha, xanthospila 

 and darwini this pattern may correctly be described as single, 

 double and quadruple respectively. 



In macrolopha the mantle feathers are cold ashy gray with 

 a wide, black shaft-stripe extending almost to the tip. Careful 

 examination of the base of the feathers reveals the fact that 



