CHAPTER XII. 
PHEASANTS ADAPTED FOR THE COVERT (CONTINUED). 
THE JAPANESE PHEASANT (PHASTANUS 
VERSICOLOR). 
J \SAPAN, among the numerous objects of interest with which it 
ly has furnished Europe, has supplied us with the most gorgeous of 
the true pheasants—the P. versicolor. It is doubtful, indeed, 
whether any of the gallinaceous group, magnificent as many of them 
are, can surpass this bird in resplendent brilliancy. The wonderful 
dark grass green of the breast, that no painter can equal, the 
dark blue of the neck, and the brilliant scarlet of the face, taken 
together, constitute one of the most effective combinations of colour 
to be found in the whole class of birds. This splendid addition 
to the fauna of Great Britain was utterly unknown in a living state in Europe 
fifty years since. In 1840 a few birds were brought to Amsterdam from Japan. 
Of these a pair passed into the possession of the Harl of Derby—the grandfather 
of the present Earl—a man whose memory as a zoologist will be green when party 
strife is forgotten. Of this pair the female died, and the breed was established 
by crossing the male with several females of the ordinary species, and then pairing 
the half-bred progeny with the old male, and continuing the breeding back until 
the offspring were no longer capable of being distinguished from the original bird. 
At the death of the Earl the Knowsley collection came to the hammer. 
A number of the versicolor pheasants, including the original bird, were’ purchased by 
Prince Demidofft for his preserves in Italy, and others passed into the possession 
of Mr. J. J. Gurney, of Norwich, by whom they were introduced into the preserves 
of that country. Since that period other specimens have been imported, and at the 
present time the P. versicolor is established as a denizen of many of our preserves. 
In form, habits, and disposition the P. versicolor corresponds closely to our 
common pheasants. As a game bird it is, both in the covert and on the table, of 
undeniable excellence. 
