REEVES'S PHEASANT 153 



at once. The trees, being high and dense, assist their elevation, and force them to a 

 respectable height from the very start. 



" Reeves's Pheasant has the power to stop suddenly when travelling at its full speed, 

 which may be estimated at nearly double that of an ordinary pheasant ; and this is 

 performed by an extraordinary movement when the bird makes up its mind to alight on 

 some high tree that has taken its fancy. This bird may be said to be furnished with a 

 ' Westinghouse brake,' in the shape of its tail, otherwise the feat would be impossible. 

 By a sudden and complete turn of the body, both the expanded wings and tail are 

 presented as a resistance to the air, and the position of the bird is reversed. This acts 

 as an immediate buffer and brake, and by this means the bird is enabled to drop head 

 downwards into a tree within the short space of eight or ten yards. 



" Lord Ravensworth, in writing of the beauty of these Inverness-shire birds, refers to 

 their difficulty of approach, saying that they take to their legs long before other 

 pheasants are conscious of danger. That is quite true, for they seem as clever as deer 

 or fox to notice the movements of men in their vicinity. One remark of Lord 

 Ravensworth requires some comment. He says: 'Any attempt to walk up to them in 

 brush covert is utterly hopeless, for they are exceedingly vigilant and go straight off 

 like a dart, not more than six feet from the ground.' Most of the old cocks, which 

 at first were found hidden in the high heather and juniper adjoining the coverts, rose 

 far out of shot, and skimmed away to shelter, as Lord Ravensworth describes, but I 

 noticed that many one- or two-year-old cocks and most of the hens sat very close, and 

 rose with a disconcerting scream at our feet, and at such times they obtained an 

 elevation similar to other pheasants. These birds were, of course, not shot, but allowed 

 to pass into the high woods. 



"... It is quite useless to turn out Reeves's Pheasant in flat, wooded countries, 

 for they will wander across a country as easily as another pheasant will stray over a 

 field. A friend of mine in north Sussex purchased a cock Reeves's Pheasant from a 

 breeder of birds, who lives near Brighton. In a few weeks he got tired of his purchase, 

 and gave the bird its liberty. It stayed about the farm a few days, and was noticed to 

 be missing one evening. The following afternoon it was observed sitting on the top of 

 the pheasant pens where it had been reared, thirty miles distant." 



As we have seen, Reeves's Pheasant readily adapts itself to suitable country 

 many thousands of miles from its native haunts, its dominant characteristics being 

 extreme wariness, strong, rapid and prolonged flight, the vernal pugnacity of the males 

 and an unwillingness to cross with species of true Phasiamis. 



In closer captivity, when the birds are confined in aviaries, we find some of these 

 qualities emphasized, while others disappear. Like many creatures which are exceedingly 

 wild when given even partial freedom, these birds often become absurdly tame when 

 confined in a small run and fed regularly by the same person. I have seen a cock perch 

 unconcernedly on the knees of its keeper, taking meal-worms from his hand, and yet 

 half an hour after this bird had been turned out into a large paddock, it was almost as 

 wary and unapproachable as if in its oriental haunts. Conversely, when again confined 

 in the autum, its fearlessness returned as abruptly as it had departed. 



Although hens of the year show little or no distinction of plumage from fully adult 

 birds, yet their egg-laying ability, at least in captivity, seems to be more limited. In an 



VOL. HI X 



