GREEN JAPANESE PHEASANT 139 



is dominant on the inner secondaries, changing to greyish brown, while the buff 

 mottlings become several oblique, broken, whitish bars and a narrow outer margin of 

 the same colour ; the primaries show no radical change from this pattern, the inner web 

 being brown, the outer greyer, both deeply toothed or barred with triangular whitish 

 patches ; many of the inner greater coverts show a broad, lateral, deep chestnut margin. 

 The under-plumage is a deep, metallic green, the thighs and under tail-coverts, dead 

 black. 



Tail greenish grey, the more central pairs widely fringed with purplish ; the 

 feathers have a series of black, elongate marks down the centre, each touching the shaft ; 

 these may be opposite one another, forming a score or more of transverse bands, or they 

 may alternate, one after the other ; they increase in size toward the tip ; as we proceed 

 toward the outer tail-feathers these black marks decrease, the outer pairs being regularly 

 freckled with greenish grey and black ; the underside of the feathers is very unlike the 

 upper, being solid black, with the wide, disintegrated fringe chestnut. 



The ear-coverts are long and dead black ; the face, except for the sub-ocular patch 

 and the lower half of the lores, is covered with scarlet flesh, raised into papillae and 

 dotted with short, velvety black featherlets ; spurs, short and stout. 



Mandibles, yellowish or dusky horn colour ; legs and feet black or dusky ; irides, 

 hazel. Weight 3 to 4 lb. Length, 770 mm. ; culmen, 33 ; wing, 228 ; tail, 365 ; 

 tarsus, 70 mm. 



VARIATIONS 



In Japan there are occasionally brought into the markets, with other wild shot birds, 

 individuals of a decided greyish tone. These differ radically and regularly from normal 

 birds and seem to represent a feral mutation. I shot one myself, not, however, 

 recognizing it as unlike the other two birds which were with it. When I saw I had 

 obtained one of the unusual types I went after the remaining two, of which I secured 

 one, and found it normal in every respect. The chief distinction is the almost complete 

 loss of metallic colouring, a condition which might be approximated by extreme wear 

 and tear of the plumage. But the bird I secured was newly moulted, and wholly lacks 

 the metallic colouring on head, mantle and underparts. The feathers are a greyish 

 black, the purple area being marked with a tinge of vinaceous, while the underparts 

 have a faint, dull greenish cast in some lights. The scapulars are the most brilliant 

 touch of colour, the chestnut being but slightly dimmed. A number of native Japanese, 

 whom I questioned, knew of this form and had a special name for it. 



Adult Female. — The hen Japanese Green Pheasant is much more like its 

 congeners of the Asiatic mainland than is the cock. In comparison with the hen of 

 colchicus, the general coloration of versicolor is much darker and the pattern more 

 pronounced. 



The head is pale sandy buff, with the crown feathers tinged with rufous ; a black 

 shaft-stripe gives a streaked appearance ; a broad margin on the neck and upper mantle 

 feathers is pinkish grey, tipped at least on the neck with bluish ; a basal shaft-stripe is 

 chestnut, while a broad, black, concentric band extends quite around the webs, running 

 parallel with the margin ; the distal visible portion of this area is strongly tinged with 



