THE AMHEBST I'HEASANT. 2'31 



]i]aces; in these spots the Amherst L'heasant is met with in 

 abundance. It is an error to think that^ like other pheasants, 

 it is met with in the forests ; 1 have never found it there, and 

 iiH in the neighbourhood of Ta-lin-pin it only exists where 

 there are no forests, I douljt very much if bushy tracts are 

 t(j its liking. The more rocky :i,nd desolate the mountains, 

 the more certain are you to find the Flower Pheasants, in 

 companies coiu])Osed of from twenty to thirty individuals. 



" The haliiis and economy of the Amherst Plieasant 

 naturally accord with the places in which it delights; it is 

 an extremely wild bird. Last year I kept one of these 

 pheasants in a stable covered with straw; it hid itself so 

 frequently and so well that once I was more than fifteen 

 days iu the belief that it was dead. I fed it with bread and 

 rice, and it became very fat. Jf this bird should be intro- 

 duced into Europe, it would be useless to eudeaA'ijur to make 

 it comfortable, if it has not in the aviary s<.ime place where, 

 at the least noise, it can hide itself, otherwise I doubt if it 

 can be preserved. I think, from tlie temperature of the 

 mountains it inhabits, that the climate of France would be 

 suitable for the Flower Pheasant. These particulars 

 respecting- the Lady Amherst's Pheasants are perfectly 

 exact, since I have myself frequently hunted, captured, fed, 

 and raised them. They would increase easily in Europe, 

 provided they were not too much exposed to the heat of the 

 sun, and that shrubs were grown in the aviarj- to allow of 

 their hiding when fnghtened." 



The breeding of the Amhei'st Plieasant offers no difficulty, 

 jtrcvided it be attempted under mitural conditions, and not in 

 the close pens, and stifling, veriiiindiannted hatching-houses 

 that are characteristic of some of our zoological collections. 

 Not only has the pure race been increased, but the males 

 have also bred freely with th.' hens of the (iold Pheasant 

 (Thanmalra j'i<-t<i), and produced hybrids which are of 

 surpassing lieauty. At the sale of the sui'plus stock m the 

 Zooloo-ical (iardens at Antwerp in 1872, a single male hybrid 



