KUSER'S BLOOD PARTRIDGE 



Ithagenes kuseri Beebe 



Name. — Specific : kuseri after Col. Anthony R. Kuser of Bernardsville, New Jersey. 



Type. — "Vicinity of Tsekon, Yunnan," Beebe, Zoologica, I. 191 2, p. 190. The type is in the Musee Nationale 

 d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. 



Geographical Distribution. — North-western finger of Yunnan, and westward to the Mishmi Hills. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 



One day, in December 1910, in north-western Yunnan, I noticed a Chinaman 

 passing along the trail driving a number of forlorn horses with some heavy merchandise. 

 Under the thongs which fastened one of these loads was tucked a bedraggled mass 

 of feathers. A glint of scarlet caught my eye, and I stopped the man and examined the 

 plumage. I saw at once that it was the remains of a Blood Pheasant, and consisted 

 of a large patch of breast feathers almost wholly scarlet and black, and two detached 

 wings with the typically long, loose, bright green coverts of geoffroyi. I secured the 

 plumage and learned that the man had obtained it from a native farther to the north. 

 He could not say certainly whether all the plumage came from a single individual, and 

 although I realized its great interest, it was impossible to put any exact interpretation 

 upon it at the time. 



A year and a half later, while studying the specimens of pheasants in the museum 

 of i\it Jardin des Plant es in Paris, I came across two mounted specimens which cleared 

 up the matter and showed that the Blood Partridge from the extreme north-west finger 

 of Yunnan is a very well-marked form, by far the most beautiful and brilliantly coloured 

 of its genus. Lacking any data as to intermediate specimens I afforded it full specific 

 rank. 



Confirmation of this decision and an extension of the range of Kuser's Blood 

 Partridge was made possible by Captain F. W. Bailey, who found the species far to the 

 westward of my locality in the Mishmi Hills, between eight and twelve thousand feet 

 elevation. Altogether ten additional specimens have been secured, seven males and 

 three females. All of these sustain the validity of the characters upon which I 

 based the species. Three eggs have also been obtained, quite similar to those of 

 geoffroyi. They were found at twelve thousand feet in early May, laid on the bare 

 ground under a clump of bamboo, with snow close by. 



I have taken great pleasure in naming this beautiful Blood Partridge in honour of 

 Colonel Anthony R. Kuser, whose interest and generosity have made possible these 

 researches. 



Detailed Description. — Male : entire forehead, chin, throat and sides of the 



head crimson. A narrow collar of black feathers with crimson fringes crosses the 



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