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PHEASANTS ADAPTED FOR THE AVIARY. 
THE GOLDEN PHEASANT (THAUMALEA PICTA). 
AS x” MONGST the birds that are reared in our aviaries on account of the 
beauty of their plumage, the two species of the genus Thawnalea 
occupy a very prominent position. These birds have been separated 
from the more . typical pheasants (which have been already 
described as constituting the restricted genus Phasianus) by several 
well marked characters, the most conspicuous of which are the 
presence of a crest of silky feathers on the crown of the head, and 
-a tippet of broad flat feathers encircling the upper part of the 
The Golden Pheasant (Thawmalea picta) has been long known in 
captivity in Europe; it was described by Linnzus under the name of 
’ Phasianus pictus in 1766, but of its habits in its native country nothing 
|’ whatever had been ascertained; even its exact locality was doubtful until 
the meuent explorations in China. It is now known to inhabit the mountains of 
the western central districts, and it has been shot by Europeans on the banks of 
the Yangstsze, one hundred miles north of Hankow. In the north of China it is, 
according to Pére David, quite unknown. 
In its mature plumage the male is one of the most gorgeous of the whole 
tribe. The head is ornamented with a long crest of silky orange-coloured feathers. 
This extends backwards over a tippet formed of broad, flat feathers, which are of a 
deep orange colour, with dark blue bars across the tips; these latter form, when 
the feathers are in position, a series of horizontal lines across the tippet. During 
the courtship of the female this collar or tippet is brought over to the side nearest 
the hen, as shown in the background of the engraving of this species; but, as the 
artist, Mr. T. W. Wood, has paid more attention to these amatory displays than 
any other writer, it is but right to allow him to describe for himself. “Not the 
least remarkable example of the lateral mode of display during courtship, 
Q 
