STYAN'S KOKLASS PHEASANT 



Pucrasia darwini styani Grant 



Names. — Specific : styani, after Mr. F. W. Styan, an English ornithologist who has done much collecting in 

 eastern China. English : Styan's Koklass. 



Brief Description.— Male : Like Darwin's koklass, but with the chestnut almost entirely eliminated from 

 the plumage, leaving it clear black and grey, comparable only with the mantle in the former subspecies. Female : 

 Unknown, probably indistinguishable from the female of Darwin's koklass. 



Range. — Vicinity of Ichang, Province of Hupeh. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT AND DESCRIPTION 



This species is known only from two skins collected near Ichang on the Yangtze 

 River in the province of Hupeh. The assertion (Ibis, 1899, p. 298) that the ventral 

 chestnut is absent in the young bird, and that '' during the course of the winter the 

 chestnut band gradually appears," is wholly false. The amount of chestnut on the 

 southern koklass is entirely an individual character. 



The describer of this form was unfortunate in the individual which he chose as type 

 of the species, as it is absolutely indistinguishable from several specimens of koklass 

 from Fokien, which lack the ventral chestnut, and which come from the same locality 

 as fully typical darwini darwini. The type styani, for example, corresponds exactly 

 with the British Museum darwini specimen labelled, 1905, 12-24, 1000, Kuatun, Ex. 

 Museum, C. B. Rickett. Both are of the same age, the latter being in somewhat worn 

 plumage. 



A much more extreme form is the individual which is described (Bull. Brit. Orn. 

 Club, XXIII. p. 32) as a "second male," and "which has evidently been in captivity." 

 The left wing has certainly been pinioned, but not for preventing flight, but where the 

 wing has been almost severed by shot. The plumage of this koklass, its wing, tail and 

 crown are all in too perfect condition for its having been in captivity even a day. 



This individual represents the extreme in the styani character of loss of chestnut 

 and should stand as typical of this form. The chestnut has not only been eliminated as 

 a solid central ventral marking, but has been extirpated from all the rest of the body plumage, 

 leaving it as a whole of a clean black and grey tone, which in typical darwini is seen only 

 on the mantle. Faint buffy edges on the feathers of some of the under parts, and more 

 distinct traces on the decomposed lower belly plumage between the legs, are the only 

 remaining hints of this colour. 



One other character not noticeable in the styani type male is a distinct glossing of 

 green over the terminal black markings, such as some of the feathers of the upper 

 mantle ; not a conspicuous character, but interesting as hinting of what might result if 

 another step should be taken in evolution. 



SYNONYMY 



Pucrasia darwini Styan, Ibis, 1899, p. 298. 



Pucrasia styani Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, XXIII. 1908, p. 32 ; Courtois, Ibis, 1913, p. 16. 



Pucrasia darwini styani Beebe, Zoologica, I., No. 15, 1914, p. 278. 



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