SCINTILLATING COPPER PHEASANT 



Syrmatictts soemmerringi scintillans (Gould) 



Names. — Specific : scintillmis, from the Latin scintilla, a spark, sparkle. English : Shining or Scintillating 

 Copper Pheasant, Honda Copper Pheasant. Native : Yamadori (Mountain Bird, Japanese). 



Brief Description. — Male : Similar to soemmerringi, but in general much paler red, the pigment of the 

 entire plumage thoroughly diluted with white ; in extreme individuals the entire lower mantle, back, rump and 

 wing-coverts show broad latero-terminal white spots, giving the plumage a streaked effect ; posterior under parts 

 broadly margined all around with buffy white ; tail-feathers very pale, with narrow blackish bars, followed by 

 narrow chocolate bars and wide interspaces of pale rufous fading posteriorly into buffy white and mottled with 

 black. Female : This sex shows no constant characters separating it from the corresponding sex oi soemmerringi. 



Range. — Honda and north-western Kiusiu. 



THE BIRD IN ITS HAUNTS 



The little Japanese pony that pulled my rough country cart was altogether too full 

 of ambition. He persisted in breaking into a full run at every opportunity, and as 

 I was jammed into the back seat beyond all possibility of escape, it was disheartening 

 to be whirled around corners on one wheel with a constant chance of overturning. 

 I could thus pay but little attention to the country through which I was passing. 

 At last, however, my driver let the beast have his way at the foot of an extremely steep 

 hill, and before we had reached the summit the horse was walking and his spirit was 

 broken for the day. 



We had left the toy villages and paper houses behind and were now in the open 

 country. Armed with an elaborate official passport, I was bound for one of the 

 Emperor's preserves, which in this case happened to be a training-ground for troops 

 as well. Our road seemed never level. We went up and down over a mass of 

 intersecting ridges, radiating in all directions. The few less steep slopes were all 

 converted into the usual series of terraced rice-fields, but these became more and more 

 infrequent, and finally nothing but wild vegetation met the eye. This was my third 

 attempt in this region after several trips made in vain in search of a Copper Pheasant's 

 nest. 



I now gladly left the cart, and began a long cross-country march. After a few 

 steps I heard the distant crow of a pheasant — one of the green Phasianus — and 

 throughout the day this sound was the one most frequently heard. I was in search 

 of the northern Copper Pheasant, scintillans, however, and paid no attention to the 

 more common species. 



As I walked along through the symmetrically moulded valleys, the slope on 

 one hand would be covered with a dense, drooping garb of soft ferns, green, russet and 

 buff blending harmoniously together. The opposite hillside might support a waving, 



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