STRMATICUS 



LONG-TAILED PHEASANTS 



Family PHASIANIDAE 



Subfamily PHASIANINAE 



Genus SYRMATICUS 



This genus has heretofore contained but a single species, reevesi. After careful 

 comparative study I have expanded it to include four additional species, as follows : — 



Reeves's Pheasant Syrmaticus reevesi (Gray). 



Soemmerring's Copper Pheasant . . . Syrmaticus soemmerringi soemmerringt i^emminck). 



Scintillating Copper Pheasant .... Syrmaticus soemmerringi scintillans (Gould). 



Ijima's Copper Pheasant ..... Syrmaticus soemmerringi ijimae (Dresser). 



Hume's Pheasant ...... Syrmaticus humiae humiae (Hume). 



Burmese Pheasant ...... Syrmaticus humiae burmanicus (Oates). 



Elliot's Pheasant Syrmaticus ellioti (Swinhoe). 



Mikado Pheasant Syrmaticus mikado (Grant). 



A superficial glance at the males of such pheasants as Reeves's, Elliot's, Mikado 

 and Copper shows a diversity of colour which seems to have nothing in common. But 

 in the greatly elongated and narrowed central rectrices and a number of other characters 

 we find that they agree, and differ from the other nearly related genera, especially 

 Phasianus. In the females also we find real criteria of relationship. 



Taking females of these five species and placing them side by side we are at once 

 struck with the great similarity of their rather specialized colours and patterns. Com- 

 parison with the corresponding sex of related genera emphasizes this similarity. The 

 following tabulated characters illustrate this : — 



Syrmaticus females 



{a) Lateral rectrices always dominately rufous ; with subterminal black and terminal black bands. 

 {U) Breast solidly or heavily marked ; belly wholly or dominately white. 



ic) Mantle with conspicuous white, arrow shaft-marks, or {soemmerringi) a pale shaft-line or terminal streak. 

 {d) Central one or two pairs of rectrices with very indistinct cross-bars (except mikado), strikingly unlike the 

 3rd and other late lateral pairs. 



Comparing these characters with those of Phasianus, for example, we find the 

 lateral rectrices with little or no rufous and barred throughout ; the central rectrices not 

 differing from the lateral ones and with distinct cross-bars ; the breast never decidedly 



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