SOEMMERRING'S COPPER PHEASANT 159 



of its occurrence in the immediate vicinity of two of the largest sea-ports, Yokohama 

 and Nagasaki, which, more than any other places in Japan, are visited by foreign 

 travellers. In the markets of these two places one will find soemmerringi far more 

 abundant than scintillans. A short distance into the mountains, however, takes one 

 completely beyond the range of the former. 



The habits of the two are so similar that I shall let the account of the more widely 

 spread and abundant scmtillans stand as typical of both soemmerrmgi and ijimae. The 

 only recognition of this comparative phenomenon which I have found in literature is an 

 implied realization of the fact in Ogama's "Hand-List of the Birds of Japan," where he 

 gives scintillans precedence over the two other forms, and correctly restricts the 

 widespread name of Yamadori to this form. 



The very meagre notes which have been recorded of this species are valueless, 

 except as personal records. They add nothing to the actual life history of the bird, and, 

 indeed, most of them are very evidently composite — a description of a Copper Pheasant 

 combined with the call-notes of the green pheasant. This is what we might expect, 

 since the two birds inhabit, in many cases, the very same fields and hills. 



I once surprised a flock of six birds, two males and four females, near a little village 

 in Izu, and had an excellent view of them as they scaled away. There was not a hint 

 of white upon the plumage of the males. My interpreter learned that this flock had 

 been seen within the small area of this valley throughout the winter, and the natives 

 had in vain tried to trap them. 



Walking about the western slope of the hill, I found plain traces of their long 

 occupation. Their tracks w^ere everywhere along the muddy margin of a little stream, 

 and abundant but old "sign" beneath a good-sized pine-tree revealed their one-time 

 roosting-place. The haunts of this flock of birds resembled some of the less luxuriant 

 slopes of the Himalayas in southern Garhwal. Dwarf pines were dotted more or less 

 thickly over the slopes and up to the knife-like saddles and ridges. In sheltered places 

 dense growths of pine appeared, and a low but thick undergrowth of grass and bamboo 

 covered the rather scanty soil. This growth was pale buff at this time of year, in sharp 

 contrast to the deep green of the conifers. Tits and siskins twittered in the cold wind, 

 and jackdaws buffeted with the gale which they encountered when they rose above the 

 shelter of the ridges. Aside from these, the country seemed bleak and deserted. Only 

 the hum of an occasional fly in a sunny, sheltered hollow hinted of the warm spring- 

 time which would soon transform all this landscape. 



Near Nagasaki I found the pheasants in much the same environment, but even 

 more barren and desolate, although later in the year. I had time merely to reach the 

 edge of a wood composed chiefly of oaks, and spend an hour or two in search of the 

 birds, one of which I shot. I had just taken my glasses from a long, irregular line of 

 wagtails— migrating birds which drifted aimlessly past, uncertain whether to alight 

 or to keep on, when a pheasant ran out from a thicket near by, and with a rush of wings 

 took to flight. I secured it, and found it to be a typical Soemmerring without a trace of 

 white. This was a bleak day in early February, and the only animal food it had been 

 able to find was several earthworms. In the crop were thirty-eight acorns of medium 

 size, besides several small seeds. The market birds which I examined had been feeding 

 upon grubs and many brown lepidopterous chrysalids. 



