BROWN EARED-PHEASANT 175 



male takes no part in incubation. As in captivity the eggs are usually hatched under a 

 domestic fowl, this requires more careful observation. The cock certainly does his full 

 share afterwards, however, and in a wild state both parents are seen constantly together 

 with their brood, sharing the finding of food and guardianship. The chicks, as I have 

 said, are remarkably tame, and the sexes are, as in the adults, almost indistinguishable. 

 They attain adult plumage at the first annual moult, and will breed when a year old. 

 The eggs are rather small for the size of the bird, of a regular oval form, with but little 

 gloss and of a pale stone-colour. They average 53 x 39 mm. 



A French amateur makes the following statements which have as yet been uncon- 

 firmed by other writers. The male Eared-pheasant prepares the hollow in the grass 

 which will contain the eggs, by digging the turf with his beak. The eggs are laid every 

 two days. After they are deposited he takes his place alongside and, plucking blades of 

 grass, covers the eggs thickly, hiding them completely from view. Six months after 

 hatching the birds are full sized and in adult plumage. 



The narrow quarters, often necessarily brick or cement floored, in which these birds 

 are usually kept, together with their diet of hard, dry grain, probably has much to do 

 with their short life. The chicks die of gapes and other diseases common to fowls, and 

 the adults usually succumb to enteritis or liver disease, while the unnatural diet often 

 leads to confirmed feather-eating, when they will completely devour one another's tails 

 if not separated or given proper food. If they were given a large natural enclosure 

 with trees, underbrush, grass and a stream of clear water, the results might be much 

 more encouraging. A supply of lettuce and cabbage in the winter and some form of 

 insect food at that season ought to complete an ideal regime. Our trying climate of 

 the north temperate zone is probably only an indirect cause of death, for the damp, 

 cold winds and bitter storms which sweep across the mountains of northern China are 

 fully as unbearable. 



Near New York, Brown Eared-pheasants have been successfully reared on a diet 

 of hard-boiled eggs, ants' eggs, elder- and blackberries, boiled rice, hemp-seed and other 

 grain as they grow older. They are very fond of beetle-grubs, but will not touch the 

 common red earthworms. 



TEXT IDENTIFICATIONS 



PAGE LINE 



163 14 White-tailed Wattled Pheasant . . . Lobiophasis bulweri Sharpe. 



164 15 Mallard Duck Anas platyrhynchos Ylnn. 



164 15 Black Duck Polionetta zonorkyncha {Si-wmh.). 



164 1 5 Pintail Duck Dafila acuta (Linn.). 



164 15 Shoveller Duck Spatula clypeata (Lmn,), 



164 15 Teal. ........ Nettion crecca (Linn.). 



164 16 Magpie . Pica pica sericea GowXd. 



164 16 Lapwing Vanellus vanellus (Linn.). 



164 18 Chinese Rook Trypanocoraxf rugilegus pastinator {Gowld). 



164 18 Oriental Crow Corvus coi'one orientalis ¥.ve.rsm. 



164 22 White-necked Crow Corvus torquatus Less. 



164 26 Hoopoe . V . Upiipa epops saturata l^onnh. 



165 33 Vole Microtus sp. 



166 14 Black-and- White Wagtail . . . . Motacilla alba leucopsis Gould. 



166 16 Black-and-White-Headed Bunting . . . Emberiza leucocephala Gmel. 



167 31 Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax {LAnr\.). 



167 31 White Falcon Falco cherrug milvipes ]&td. 



171 29 Himalayan Grey Fox Vulpes alopex montanus VQ3.VS. 



171 42 Chinese Sea-Eagle Circaetushypdeucusi^dXX), 



