i68 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



On the vaguest information, coming through several persons, Swinhoe, in his 

 description of this species says, "If I am rightly informed our specimen hails from 

 Mantchuria," and forthwith dubs it mantchuricMm. Up to the present not a single 

 individual has been authentically recorded as having been seen or collected in that 

 country, nor is it ever brought in a frozen condition to the Pekin market by the 

 Mongols — this fact in itself being quite good proof that the bird is absent from the 

 region under question. The error, however, has been perpetrated in almost every 

 allusion to the species in scientific and lay literature, since the first misstatement. I 

 have therefore discarded the wholly incorrect common title of Manchurian, and shall 

 call it simply the Brown Eared-pheasant, in contradistinction to the blue and the 

 white species. 



A summary of records shows that this species is found in the states of Chili and 

 Shansi in the extreme north-east of China. In the former it occurs in the western half 

 of the state, while it seems to be generally distributed throughout Shansi, its western 

 limits thus being clearly marked by the Hoang-ho, and its probable northern boundary 

 by the Great Wall of China. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 



To sum up, I found the Brown Eared-pheasant in Shansi, inhabiting a bleak, 

 rolling country, diversified by irregular mountains and in places with deep valleys which 

 cut well down to the lower level of the outlying plains. Much of the country is 

 barren and rocky, and here the vegetation consists of low woody shrubs and coarse 

 grass. But wherever the soil and the shelter of a southern exposure permits, are sparse 

 woods or occasional quite dense growths of pine and white birch, seldom higher than 

 fifteen or twenty feet. Scrub oak is also common — seven to ten feet high and very 

 gnarled and rugged. 



From competent observers I learned that the Eared-pheasants are resident in 

 regions such as this throughout the entire year — rambling about in flocks of ten to 

 thirty birds during the winter, both in the groves and open slopes, and roosting in the 

 woods. In spring they separate into pairs, those which seem to be old mated pairs 

 going off quietly, hinting that there is apparently a tacit acceptance of the old tie 

 continuing even during the winter flocking. I once watched a flock of ^wt birds and 

 observed a very evident division into two pairs, each couple keeping and working 

 together. I never saw any attempt at fighting, but a sportsman who had shot a number 

 while they were thus sparring said that these were invariably young birds. So it is 

 probable that when the flocks break up in the spring, the young birds go ofl" seeking 

 mates and it is among these that most of the fighting occurs. Those who have 

 witnessed such encounters say that they are rather tame afl'airs, and indeed, judging by 

 the stoutness and the short character of the spurs, serious, bloody battles such as 

 are waged by the firebacks are out of the question in the case of these northern 

 pheasants. 



While any very deep fall of snow would, of course, force the birds downward to 

 lower levels, yet they are able to scratch or rather pick deep holes to reach the ground, 



