IGO PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



e 



are brought into contact they Ijogiii to interbi-eed ; crosses of 

 every kind rapidly ajipoar, and in a comjia.ratively short tini 

 the swamping effects of interbreeding reduce the two or 

 more local races which have been lirought into contact to a, 

 >mgle and nniforiu intermediate race. Such swanipiny 

 effects of interbreeding have practically stamped out in tin- 

 JJi'itish Islands the two very diffei'ent looking races of 

 pheasants wliich were introduced into them — PJuisiii mix 

 colrhlciis fi'om Asia. .Minor, atid Vlinsianux tnrqnatu^ from 

 (Jhina. The ]jheasant of the Piritish Islands is, with very 

 T'are exce[itions, only a mongrel l)etween these two I'aces, liut, 

 it must be admitted, a very healthy and fertile one." 



The intermingling of the several races in the coui'se of 

 ages, and the isolation of the different lireeds in the valleys 

 and river systems of Asia, have given I'ise to numerous sub- 

 species which are found spread over that vast continent. 

 The spread of scientific investigation is continually disclosing 

 new pheasants, which it jileases the discoverers to regard as 

 distinct species, Imt which ;ire obviously only mixed races. 

 Afr. D. G. Elliot, writing in 1872, enumerated about a dozen. 

 Mr. Seebohm, in the Ihix for liS87, described six as suli- 

 s]oecies of P culrji icn.s (three of which were not recogniseil 

 liy Mr. Elliot). These are P. iiriHcijxtli.^ from Xorth 

 Afghanistan ; /'. jirrsicns (which Jlr. Elliot regards as the 

 same as I'. ■\-Juiii-i) ; and /'. cliri/suiiielii.';, which he regards as 

 identical with P. iiisir/nin. In the following volume (1888) 

 Mr. lSeeb(.ihm enumerates seven races, of which the Chinese- 

 P. torqii(itn,s may lie I'egarded as the tvpe ; of these, two., 

 1'. rlangiili and /'- sfrnucJu, are not desci'ibed by ilr. Elliot. 

 ( )f the others, the most strongly marked is the Jajianese 

 V verxicnhir, which appi'ars t(.i me to be the most distinct 

 and typical of all the true pheasants. 



In his work on (iame Birds, Mr. ()gilvie (jrant enumerates 

 eighteen species, and to these have been added three others 

 by Mr. Dresser and the Hon. Walter Rothschild, as recorded 

 at page 22 of the present volume. 



