194 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIABIES. 



from one point of vantage to another, but swims, and seems 

 to be quite at home iu these thickets, where there is always 

 water to the depth of two or three feet. These swampy 

 localities afford good shelter. In the mornings and evenings 

 the pheasants leave it for the more open and dry country, 

 v^here they pick up their food. I believe the same species is 

 found on the Hari-rud river, but I have seen no specimens 

 from that locality." 



It is not without interest to note that the Prince of Wales's 

 pheasant has not unfrequently made its appearance in con- 

 siderable numbers in the London markets, having been im- 

 ported through Russia in a frozen state, and it is recorded 

 that the late Mr. Seebohm, after having given £10 for one of 

 the orginal skins received from Afghanistan, supplemented 

 it the following year by a couple bought for a few shillings 

 in Leadenhall Market. 



The general introduction of this pheasant into our coverts 

 ■would be advantageous, not only on account of its size and 

 plumage, but still more so from the fact that, having been 

 reared on swampy ground, it is a very desirable addition to our 

 coverts in many localities. The history of its introduction 

 into this country as a wild bird is given in the following 

 paper by Colonel M. Sunderland : 



" In 1901 I read in Tegetmeier's work on pheasants 

 that the Prince of Wales's pheasant would be a welcome 

 addition to the British coverts, and I therefore determined to 

 introduce this beautiful bird into Europe. I first tried the 

 importation of eggs, bat they proved a dismal and costly 

 failure. In the autumn of 1902 I went to the East, and 

 succeeded in securing several birds. No one could positively 

 inform me whether this species of pheasant was polygamous 

 or not, so I brought to England an equal number of cocks 

 and hens. A useless precaution, for the cocks fought for the 

 hens in the usual manner. The birds stood the long journey 

 very well, and were turned down into large enclosures in 

 Hampshire at the end of February, 1903. They did not 



