182 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



A very interesting observation was made by the late Mr. 

 Blyth on the voice of this species. He states : — " I have 

 heard the call-note of Reeves's pheasant, and it was some 

 time before I could satisfy myself that it actually proceeded 

 from such a bird. It is like the simple song of some small 

 passerine bird, delivered in as high a key as the song of the 

 hedge sparrow {Accentor modularis), one of which happened 

 to be singing at the same time. A repetition of the same note 

 seven or eight times over, quite musical, but not loud, being as 

 unlike what would be expected from such a bird as a pheasant, 

 as the voices of sundry Columbidce are utterly different from 

 what would have been expected to proceed from pigeons and 

 doves." 



The late Mr. J. J. Stone, to whom naturalists are so much 

 indebted for his introduction of this and other splendid 

 pheasants, was of opinion that the value of Reeves's pheasant 

 in this country rests mainly upon its size and strength of 

 flight, making it the prince of game birds for our woods. In 

 a communication to me on the subject, he wrote : " The point 

 I aim at is to induce the large landed proprietors and game 

 preservers to introduce the Reeves's pheasant into their 

 coverts, believing that it will (from its wild character) afford 

 the best sport of all the pheasants, and from its size and the 

 magnificence of its plumage it must be a desirable addition to 

 our list of game birds. I want to see Reeves's pheasant 

 common on the dinner table ; and there is no reason why it 

 should not be so in a few years, seeing that it is now being 

 bred freely in Belgium, and may be purchased there at about 

 the price which the Versicolor still commands, though much 

 longer introduced into Europe." Since Mr. Stone's death 

 several successful attempts have been made to introduce this 

 most noble of all the true pheasants into our coverte. 



Lord Lilford, writing in March, 1881, gave me the follow- 

 ing information : " I have kept several in pens, and found 

 them very uncertain layers, although one season my hen birds 

 laid an average of twenty eggs apiece, from which a very good 



