444 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Genus PHASIANUS. 



The genus Phasianus was included by Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth 

 edition of his ' Systema Naturae ' (i. p. 270) . The Common Pheasant (the 

 Phasianus phasianus of Brisson) must he accepted as the type of the 

 genus. 



The Pheasants may be distinguished from all the other Game Birds by 

 the absence of an occipital crest and their long pointed tail. The tarsus is 

 long, and in the male armed with one small spur. The nostrils are par- 

 tially concealed with a membrane. - 



There are about a dozen species of Pheasants, entirely confined to the 

 south-eastern portions of the Palaearctic Region and the northern portions 

 of the Oriental Region. One species only is European, which is a common 

 resident in the British Islands. 



The Pheasants are shy and retiring, and only frequent places in which 

 plenty of cover is to be found — large woods and plantations in which there 

 is plenty of undergrowth surrounded by open country, which they visit 

 to feed. They fly heavily but quickly, making a whirring sound when they 

 rise; and on the ground they walk and run about much like domestic 

 poultry. They are both granivorous and insectivorous. Their notes are 

 harsh and discordant. The females make a slight nest on the ground, 

 merely a hollow in which are scraped a few dead leaves, withered grass, &c. 

 Their eggs are numerous, and, so far as is known, plain unspotted brown 

 or olive-green in colour. 



