THJiJ (JUMMON PHEASANT. lt;r> 



toe \, its claw ^V; second toe lyv, its claw -f'^ ; tliird tou 1 1 !,' , 

 its claw 'j''rj- ; fourth toe l^V, its claw fV-" 



Several well-marked aud perfectly permanent varieties of 

 tins species are not uucoinuiou. One of the best ku(.wn is 

 the so-called Hohemiau pheasant, in which the entire jdamage 

 is nincli less glossy, the general ground-colour heing of a 

 creamy tint ; the head, neck, and spangliugs on the breast 

 and tail showing the dark markings in varying degrees of 

 iiitensit\' in different specimens. Tbe appearance of this 

 variety is admirably given in the engraving. Tlie Bohemian 

 pheasant is occasionally prodnc'd From the common form in 

 different localities, the variation is hereditary, and may be 

 propag'ated by careful selection of brood stock. Thus 

 iStevensoii, in his " Jiirds of Norfolk'' (vol. I., p. obSj , 

 informs us that in tliat county, Hke certain light varieties 

 of the common partridge, they are confined ti.i particular 

 localities : — " They have been found in different seasons in 

 some C'i verts ax Cranmei' ; and in the autumn of bS61 I saw 

 three tine examples killed, 1 believe, in Mr. llardca,stle'^ 

 preserves at Hanworth, near Cromer, one of which, even in its 

 abnormal plumage, showed a decided relationship to the 

 Uing-uecked cross by the white mark on either side of the 

 neck" — a circumstance also noticed by Macgillivray. 



Purely wdiite varieties of the common pheasant occur 

 annually in various coverts without any apparent cause. A 

 correspondent, who has been a pheasant rearer for thirty 

 years, writes : — " E'our years ago a, nest of thirteen eggs was 

 brought in by the mowers. All the eggs were hatched ; 

 eleven were perfectly white birds, the other two the common 

 colour. Nine of the white birds were reared — sis cocks and 

 three hens; three cocks were turned out, the others were 

 kept ill the pheasantry, pinioned. The white pheasants 

 proved very bad layers— very delicate, their eggs very bad ; 

 and those that were hatched very difficult to rear, and there 

 never was a white bird bred. The extraordinary thing is, 

 that where the nest was taken up the keeper;- had never 



