248 APPENDIX B. 



Amherst cock (long since dead) are to be seen in the white 

 tippet and red tinge of the crest feathers ; this latter sign 

 gradually wears out. The ' tippet ' seems to be more 

 permanent. 



" Silver and Reeves Pheasants have bred together. The 

 result is a certain amount of brown colour on the back and 

 in the tail feathers. I have little experience of this cross." 



On the Elvedon estate a hybrid Reeves is said to have 

 proved fertile, and Mr. Pigott on inquiry has received the 

 following letter from the head gamekeeper, W. Hill : — 



" I had some four or five Reeves hybrids (hens) penned 

 with the common pheasant, P. colchicus, about three seasons 

 ago, and they were fertile and several young were reared. 



" I have also known of several second, and I may say third 

 crosses, but the curious fact is that whereas the first cross is 

 a magnificent bird of great weight and beauty, the second 

 cross is much smaller, and the third smaller still — not so large 

 as a medium common pheasant hen." 



Lord Redesdale informs Mr. D. Piggott that he has 

 always found the hybrid Reeves infertile, so that the fertility 

 of this cross must still be regarded as very uncertain. 



