ORANGE-COLLARED KOKLASS PHEASANT 



Pucrasia xanthospila ruficollis David and Oustalet 



• The Koklass Pheasant of Kansu and western Shensi seem to differ from those to 

 the east and south in having collars of a decided orange rufous instead of a yellow buff. 

 This character is rather variable, and the variation in extent and degree of coloration of 

 the collar in xanthospila, render it improbable that this is more than a subspecific 

 distinction. As such, however, and as correlated with the occurrence of other subspecies 

 of pheasants in Kansu, such as Ithaginis sinensis sinensis, it should certainly be 

 recognized. 



SUBSPECIFIC CHARACTERS 



The chief character of the cock Orange-collared Koklass is the orange rufous colour 

 of the collar and anterior mantle, each feather with a narrow shaft stripe of golden 

 yellow. In well-marked individuals about half the mantle is included in this zone of 

 colour, the collar extending clear around the neck to the chestnut of the mid-breast. 

 Even where the two colours come in contact they do not blend. The chestnut of the 

 ventral surface is darker than in typical xanthospila, and there is a corresponding 

 clearing of the mottled grey areas, the black lines standing out very distinctly against 

 their purer pale background. The, yellow of the lower sides and flanks is very pro- 

 nounced. Everywhere we find an increase of black at the expense of chestnut or rufous, 

 as on both the upper and under tail-coverts. 



A typical male shows the following measurements: bill from nostril, 17 mm.; 

 wing, 223 ; tail, 228 ; tarsus, 66 ; middle toe and claw, 58. 



The Orange-collared Koklass was first separated by David and Oustalet in **Les 

 Oiseaux de la Chine," their characterization being as follows : 



''Pucrasia xan^thospila, var. ruficollis (Chensi). — Cotes du cou dun roux tr^s-fonce ; 

 tache lat^rale blanche peu ddveloppde et entouree de toutes parts par le noir metallique ; 

 sous-caudales noires, sans bande marron, avec une tache terminale blanche arrondie et 

 non pas anguleuse ; banie mddiane marron moins etendue sur le ventre que dans le 

 Pucrasia xanthospila vrai ; teintes noires plus ddveloppdes sur le dos et les ailes." 



Their type is now in the Paris Museum. 



SYNONYMY 



Pucrasia xanthospila, var. ruficollis David et Oustalet, Oiseaux de la Chine, 1877, P- 4o8. 

 Pucrasia ruficollis Salvadori, Boll. Mus. Zool. ed. Anat. Torino, XXVII. 19 12. 



Pucrasia xanthospila ruficollis Declitus, Jour, fur Ornith. 1897, p. 62; Courtois, Ibis, 191 3, p. 16; Beebe, 

 Zoologica, I., No. 15, 1914, p. 278; Baker, Jour. Bombay Nat, Hist. Soc, XXV. 1918, p. 523. 



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