i86 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 557 



RING PHEASANT. 



BY A. G. PEILL, M. D. 



Phasianus tobquatus, (Grml). Common name: Chi- 

 nese or Mongolian Pheasant. 



Habitat: Western United States, Willamette Valley 

 and southward into California. 



Description — Male, total length 34 to 40 inches. 

 Length of tail, 15 inches to 24 inches. Bill dark, Is/g 

 inches long. Iris yellow. Crown, greyish green, with a 

 white stripe extending over each eye. Around the eyes 

 is found a large red patch of hair feathers. 



Neck: Changeable green and purple, following which 

 is a circular band of pure white, extending around the 

 neck, and from this it receives its name. 



The breast and f)oints of the shoulders are a changeable, 

 fire red and purplish blue, the border of the feathers 

 being tipped with blue. Following in the median line is a 

 narrow strip of blue feathers, which gradually emerge 

 into black, as we approach the under tail coverts, which 

 are greyish brown. 



The tail consists of 16 feathers, the outer ones being 

 shortest and gradually becoming longer, up to 15 or 24 

 inches, the two centre feathers being longest. The under 

 coloring is greyish black; the upper, brown, with light 

 gray and black, and brown bars. 



Upper tail coverts, Irish green, bordered with old gold 

 and tinged with bright green. 



Under wing, grayish white. Body light yellow, and 

 end of feathers tipped with blue. 



The female has none of the bright markings of the 

 male, and is about two-thirds the size of the male, of a 

 uniform mottled pale yellow, with slight shades of brown, 

 black and gray variously intermixed. 



The above description, although deficient in many re- 

 spects, will, I hope, convey some idea of the beauty of 

 this species. The description is taken from an adult male 

 and female in my collection. 



This bird was imported fi'om China by O. N. Denny 

 some eight years ago. Six pair were let loose on Petter- 

 son Butte, about four miles from this place (Sodaville, 

 Ore.), and the climatical conditions and country being 

 favorable and being protected by a strict law for six 

 years, they have multiplied rapidly, and now are one of 

 our most common game birds. In fact they multiplied so 

 rapidly that long before the six years' protection had 

 ceased, the farmers complained bitterly that the birds 

 were a serious damage to their grain and gardens, and 

 many birds were killed, but in this I think they were 

 mistaken, for in my examination of many stomachs, at all 

 seasons of the year, I found but very little grain as their 

 food, but many wild seeds, bugs, grasshoppers, etc. 



I think that the farmers have realized this, also, to some 

 extent, as nearly all have now posted trespass notices for 

 their protection. 



The birds are not as abundant as two years ago, as 

 many were slaughtered by pot hunters for the Portland 

 and San Francisco markets. 



The bird is an easy wing shot, but has many devices to 

 deceive the sportsman. I have known them to lie so close 

 that in passing within four feet I did not discover the 

 bird, and the bird will not fly until seen by you, and then 

 it is off like a flash, making a great noise and cackling. 

 They are very swift of foot; it requires a ^ood dog to 

 catch one that has been winged. 



The breeding habits are somewhat peculiar. The female 

 deposits her first complement of eggs about April 10 to 

 15. As soon as the young leave the nest they are taken 

 in charge by the male, and the hen jjroceeds to lay a sec- 

 ond complement of eggs, which in each case is generally 

 ten to fifteen eggs. As soon as hatched the male also 



takes these in charge, and the female deposits a third sit- 

 ting, which is generally about eight eggs. When these 

 are out of the shell, one can see the entire band of three 

 broods and male and female together. Two broods are 

 always raised, and in many cases three. Only a few days 

 ago I saw a brood not over ten days old. They nest ujjon 

 the ground, which is generally a mere hollow, lined with 

 leaves, under some small bush- or in a clump of grass and 

 in an open field. 



Oat stubble field is a favorite resort, also fern ridges. 



In ca23tivity the birds do well and even breed, but are 

 never domesticated, for as soon as let out they at once fly 

 away and do not return. 



The bird seems to be fearless, coming into the barn- 

 yard and feeding with the fowls. 



During the spring the males crow similar to our fowls. 

 This is during the mating season. Their love antics 

 are queer and grotesque. 



The males strut around the females, with wings 

 drooped and tail exjjanded and elevated, all the while ut- 

 tering a low gutteral sound. This performance is kept up 

 for hours at a time. 



During snow storms and frosty weather, many birds 

 are caught here, as in roosting over night the long tails 

 of the males freeze fast in the snow, and they are unable 

 to get up, and one can walk up and pick them up. 



I hope that the bird will, in time, be introduced into 

 other parts of the United States and flourish, and thus 

 give to our country one of the most beautiful game birds 

 known. 



THE BENDIGO GOLDFIELD. 



BY T. S. HALL, M. A., CASTLEMAINE, AUSTRALIA. 



The first portion of a report by Mr. E. J. Dunn, on the 

 Bendigo Goldfield, has just been issued by the Victorian 

 Department of Mines and is full of interesting matter, 

 put both clearly and concisely. The rocks of the field 

 were long ago referred by ]?rof. Sir F. M'Coy to the 

 same horizon as the Lower Landeilo rocks of Britain. The 

 auriferous quartz reefs show a very peculiar structure. 

 In most cases they occur as lenticular masses, arching 

 over the anticlinal axes. North and south, in the direc- 

 tion of strike, they extend in some cases for miles, while 

 in the direction of the dip they thin out rapidly, rarely 

 extending for 300 feet. Mining ojDerations show a series 

 of the "saddle-reefs," as they are termed, one below the 

 other. In the Lazarus mine, for instance, in sinking 2,200 

 feet, no less than twenty-four of these "reefs" were en- 

 countered. It is evident, that during the process of rock- 

 folding, which has produced an average dip of 65°, cavi- 

 ties were produced between the beds into which the 

 quartz segregated. It is, of course, A well-known fact 

 that the axis of an anticline is rarely a horizontal line, 

 but undulates more or less vertically in the direction of 

 its bearing, but till Mr. Dunn's report, based on careful 

 survey, appeared, the full bearing of this fact on our aurif- 

 erous rocks was overlooked. This "pitch" of the anticline 

 in Bendigo rarely exceeds 30*^, but a case is quoted where 

 it was as high as 60". As the "saddle-reefs" lie between 

 the bedding planes the "pitch" had, of course, been rec- 

 ognized by the miners, who appropriated for it, most unfor- 

 tunately, the geological term "dip." As a consequence of 

 this pitch, the deepest rocks are brought to the surface 

 in the central portion of the area, and are the most high- 

 ly auriferous. Surrounding this area is a larger one, in 

 which the reefs do not yield gold so freely. Surrounding 

 this second area is a third area, consisting of the highest 

 rocks of the district and in which gold has not been 

 found in payable quantities. The extent of the central 

 area is about ten square miles. 



