KIRGHIZ PHEASANT 



Phasianus colchicus mongolictis Brandt 



Names. — Subspecific : mongoHcus, from Mongolia ; a name given on the principle of lucus a non lucendo 

 as the bird barely enters the extreme western part. English : Mongolian or Kirghiz Ring-necked Pheasant. 



Type.— Locality : Altai. Describer : Brandt. Place of Description: Bull. Ac. Sc. St. Petersb., III. 1844 

 p. 51. 



Subspecific Characters. — Male : Distinguished from all the red and maroon-rumped species already 

 described except turcestanicus by a broad white ring around the neck, interrupted in front. In general it resembles 

 the Persian Pheasant, but the mantle, chest and breast are bronzy orange-red, showing purple-carmine in one 

 light and green in another ; breast and flanks tipped with blackish green ; centre of breast and sides of abdomen 

 dark green. Female : Similar to the female of chiysomelas but with a black spot near the tip of each feather of 

 the upper mantle, and a black bar across the middle instead of a broad, black, submarginal border. From 

 tmxestanicus it differs in the very distinct break in the forepart of the white collar, while the mantle, chest and 

 dark spots of the flanks are glossed with green instead of blue or violet. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



The Kirghiz country in the north-eastern part of Russian Turkestan, in the 

 province of Semiretshensk and part of Semipalatinsk. Also the Chinese Province of 

 Kuldja including the basins of Lakes Issyk-kul, Balkash, Ala-kul and Zaisan together 

 with their tributaries. To the East in the Tian-Shan, it reaches high altitudes along 

 the valleys of Tekes and Kunges, tributaries of the Hi, and thence onward, throughout 

 southern Dzungaria as far as Guchen. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 



On the south-east the enormous Tian-Shan serve as the boundary between the 

 Kirghiz Pheasant and both shawi and tarimensis, while on the south-west the Alexander 

 and Karatan Mountains intervene to a less extent between it and turcestanicus. On 

 the north-west the Altai Mountains form somewhat of a barrier between it and hagen- 

 becki, a member of the eastern, grey-rumped group of pheasants. 



Mr. Douglas Carruthers ("The Field," Vol. CXX. No. 31 12) gives a vivid account 

 of Mongolian Pheasant shooting. Although he includes the Syr-Daria bird, yet his actual 

 shooting experiences were in the very heart of typical Mongolian Pheasant country. 



"The Mongolian pheasant, which is so well known in Europe on account of its 

 introduction as a breeding agent, has 'the heart of Asia' as its abode and the Hi valley 

 as the centre of its range. Westwards, it wanders as far as the Syr-Daria and the 

 Aral Sea, and eastwards to the Black Irtish, under the great Altai ; whilst the rivers of 

 Dzungaria — the Borotala and the Manas — also support an immense stock of these 

 birds. The range of the Mongolian pheasant is separated from that of the Zarafshan 

 bird by a zone of barren desert. It is barriered by the giant Tian-Shan range from 

 the haunts of the Tarim and Yarkand varieties, and the Altai Mountains separate it on 



96 



