CHAI'TEK XVir. 



PHEASANTS ADAl'TEJ) TO THE COVERT 

 (CONTINUED). 



SCEMMERRINC'S PHEASANT {FHASIANUS 

 8CEAIMEURINGII). 



imkAi 



'^ 



KCt]I\niER]i.ING'S pheasant is an exquisitely beautifol 



f species inhabiting' Japan. In the southein ishinds^ 



il'f.'o;' "" Kin-Shin and Hondo, it is very nnmerons, and is 



connnonly exposed for sah' in the markets of Nagasaki. 

 In otlier districts of the country its place seems to he 

 supplied by the P rrrsicolor. Tlu' bird was known to 

 Temniiiick b_y the dried skins, but subsequently tlie living 

 animal has been introduced into aviaries in J']u)'0[ie, and it has 

 bji-ed in the zoological gardens in Conchjii and .Antwcr]). In 

 the Regent's Park fJarden it first Ijred, according to liartlett, 

 in LSG.5, wlien the female laid ten eggs, but (Uily a few 

 birds were hatched, and the young birds died in a few days. 

 Since then the breeding- has been more successful, and mature 

 specimens have been reared. 



'jliis .species, liowever, is but ill-adapted to In'eed in con- 

 finement, as the males a.vo excessively pugnacious — not I'lily 

 destroying one another, but even kiUitig the females. The 

 tendency is ]n'obaljly developed by captivity, and no doulit, if 

 placed in a free range, Socmmerring's yiheasaut wnuld prove 

 as fertile as the other species. The late ]\lr. A. 1). P)artlett, 

 writing of this s])ecies in I'llliot's nnniogriiph, savs : '' Amongst 

 the Phasianidie some species are remarkable tor their 



