192 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



The range of Elliot's Pheasant, as far as we know it at present, includes those parts 

 of the three provinces of Chekiang, Kiangsi and Fokien which lie south of 31° N. lat. ; 

 east of 117° E. long. ; and north of the parallel of 25° N. lat. The records have been 

 sporadic, and the bird doubtless extends much farther into the interior than we are 

 aware. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 



This bird is confined to the mountains, living at moderate elevations in the forests 

 or among dense bamboo undergrowth. David's statement, which has been quoted by 

 all succeeding writers, that Elliot's Pheasant is constantly on the move, being found in 

 a locality one season and then disappearing for several successive years, was based on 

 the assertions of natives, and I could find no confirmation of a habit so unusual in a 

 gallinaceous bird. The birds are certainly not common in the part of their range with 

 which we are familiar, but when they disappear from any locality it is because they have 

 been exterminated. They have no greater tendency to wander than any of the more 

 well-known pheasants, and are certainly less nomadic than the eared pheasants. 



Indeed, at the altitudes at which they live there is little or no necessity for leaving 

 their haunts, even in winter, and the villagers in several places told me that the birds 

 remained on neighbouring slopes throughout the entire year. 



There is no doubt, however, that these pheasants are extremely local and not 

 abundant anywhere. They are very timid birds, and to a certain extent this may 

 account for their apparent scarcity. Their silence is another factor in keeping their 

 presence from being known, and I have never heard these birds utter a sound except 

 under the provocation of extreme fear, or again when, feeding quietly together, they give 

 voice to the usual low phasianine murmur or chuckle. 



Elliot's Pheasants are not especially good flyers, and, of course, always prefer to use 

 their legs for locomotion. I have never seen them fly uphill, but when flushed well up 

 on a slope they rise quickly, and when clear of the surrounding vegetation veer outward, 

 cease beating and scale slowly downward, giving a single flap now and then. When 

 seen thus in clear sunlight they are very beautiful, their varied markings producing a 

 harlequin effect unlike that of any other pheasant. 



The only thing which has been recorded in literature concerning the food of this 

 species is Swinhoe's note of a bird which had its crop crammed with seed-pods, seeds, 

 berries and several kinds of leaves. The birds which I shot or have had sent to me 

 were consistent in this vegetable diet, and seemed to prefer a small, cherry-like berry 

 growing on a trailing vine. No aromatic leaves were eaten, unlike the preference shown 

 by the tragopans and others. A few remains of ants were the only hints of animal diet. 



I could learn nothing at first hand of the roosting places of these birds, except where, 

 in several cases, I found unmistakable signs that one or two were roosting in the 

 interstices of the balustrade of an ancient Chinese grave. One evening I saw a cock 

 pheasant actually come to such a place, and after preening his plumage in the failing 

 light, hop down and settle for the night between two carved blocks. Curiously enough 

 he roosted head inward, tail hanging down outside, facing the slope. To my way of 

 thinking, this was a great mistake. Any marten or other marauder could cut off the 



