ii8 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



put up, they became very wild and always flew when the hunter was a long way off 

 or else tried to hide. If the covey stayed together, the former course was usually 

 adopted ; if it broke up, single birds would trust to concealment. I always found it was 

 much easier to get a shot when pheasants were in pairs or singly than when several 

 birds were together. Two or three coveys which I hunted for several weeks in 

 succession would split up and come together for a short time. 



" In the crops of the pheasants I usually found rice, but frequently small red berries 

 and other seeds. In the crop of one cock pheasant I found a grasshopper. 



"The pheasants were never present in large numbers at Ulsan ; ten or twelve 

 together being the greatest number I have observed. They were quite as frequently 

 found in pairs, or males and females together, singly, or four or five females or males. 

 In fact there seemed to be no uniformity in their numbers at this time of the year. 

 There appears to be no local migration. 



''The flesh of the pheasant is white and rather dry. The Coreans themselves con- 

 sider it to be a great delicacy, and at certain times of the year, especially New Year, 

 pheasants bring a high price. The meat has rather a strong taste in some individuals, 

 and I do not like it as well as the flesh of our own grouse. 



''The Coreans and the Japanese very frequently make the long tail-feathers of the 

 cock pheasants into little brooms for dusting and sweeping. 



"One day I put up a covey of pheasants from the rice fields and they flew up a 

 high hill so steep that I could not climb it from that side. I climbed the hill from one 

 side and rolled several stones down in order to put the birds up ; suddenly I looked 

 about and saw a slight movement about twenty feet away under a bush ; it was a cock 

 pheasant's head, and as soon as the bird saw I had discovered him, although I did not 

 move, he flew up and passed a few feet in front of me. Another time I was walking up 

 a hill and saw a slight movement in the bushes not more than five feet away. A cock 

 bird was running along trying to hide and flew as soon as I looked around ; I had 

 passed close to it several times before. The pheasants were very hard to kill and could 

 carry away a good deal of shot. No. 3 or 4 would stop them when not more than 

 thirty-five yards from the gun. They were without doubt the finest birds which I 

 have ever hunted." 



In north-east Corea, between the Tumen and Yalu Rivers, Mr. Andrews found the 

 same pheasant, karpowi, not nearly as abundant as in the south. " In this section of 

 the country the hills range from five hundred to two thousand feet in height, and are 

 sparsely wooded with oak and birch. Along the course of the rivers, large areas of the 

 valleys and hills are under cultivation, and near these pheasants were found. 



" I arrived in early April, and snow flurries continued from this date up to the 

 ist of June; it was cold at night, but quite warm in the daytime. Pheasants were 

 found along the cultivated areas on the hillsides, but seldom in the bottoms of the 

 valleys, except in the early morning or late afternoon when they came down to drink. 

 No rice was growing in these fields, but quantities of millet and some oats. The 

 pheasants were feeding to a large extent on millet, and also on small red berries. I 

 found some grasshoppers in the crop of one cock bird. The birds were difficult to put 

 up during the day, but could be quite easily flushed in the morning while drinking. 



"The voice of the male is a short crow consisting of three notes, cuk-cuk-cuk, very 



