INTHODUCTTON INTO AMERICA. 



six thousand birds wei'e bay-ged in the imiuediate ueighbour- 

 hiiixl of the city of Anckhuid. Pheasants were ilrst iotnjdueed 

 iuto the province of Auckhuul aljDut tliirty years since, seven 

 males and t\V(_i leniales, tlie only survivurs <.if two dozen 

 shipped in China, comprising the (iriginal stock of the 

 Chinese species. At the same time a nundjer of the Common 

 species were liberated in another part of the colony. These 

 were supplemented by si.x niori' Chinese bir(fs in 1856. Both 

 s]iecies ha^'e nniltiplie<l exceetlingly, but their multiplicatifjn 

 has in many phices been lessened b)- the em])loyment of 

 phosphorised oats laid down to pois(.in tlio raljbits. 



The pheasant has also been inti'odiiccd into several of 

 the islands of the Pacific. fjy the kiininess of Lieut. C. 

 de Crespignj', of H.i\I.S. L'lintroa, 1 received a specimen 

 of the pheasant winch is now breeding in the iSamoan 

 Islands. This pheasant is nndouljtedly of tlie Chinese 

 I'ing-necked species, tlie neck being nearly surrounded by 

 the distiucjuishino- white collar, but there is a considerable 

 difference in the C(.)loin' of the neck at the base and the 

 scapular feathers, which are much lighter than in our 

 ordinary species. 



The Chinese pheasant was introduced by the Portuguese 

 into the island of St. Helena in the year lolo, and has 

 increased in numbers to a ver\' considerable extent ; but 

 the ]5resent representatives of the original stock differ some- 

 what from their ancestijrs, both iii the colour and markings 

 of the plumage, as is deseribed in the chapter on that 

 species. 



Very successful attempts have been made to introduce 

 the different species of pheasants into Noi'th America as game 

 birds, where in many parts they have become thoroughly 

 acclimatised. 1'he original stocks fi-om whence the pheasants 

 in the Western States are descended were imported direct 

 from China, consequently the ring-necked pheasant (P. 

 torquatns) is common in localities where the old English 

 pheasant (P. coIcJiicn.^) is almost unkiujwn, although the latter 



