OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 45 



eight to twelve in number; sometimes as many as twenty are 

 found ; and I have known of an instance in which a single hen 

 has brought off twenty-six chicks from as many eggs ! They vary 

 from brown through olive-brown to bluish green in colour, and 

 are unspotted. The late Mr. Seebohm, Jun., and myself took a 

 clutch some years ago in Northumberland of the normal colour, 

 amongst which was one of a delicate greenish blue. They 

 measure on an average i"8 inch in length by i'4 inch in breadth. 

 Incubation lasts, on an average, twenty-four days. The Pheasant 

 only rears one brood in the year ; but if the first clutch is un- 

 fortunate, other eggs are laid, as hens have been known to sit as 

 late as September. When leaving her nest for a short time to 

 feed, the hen carefully covers her eggs with leaves, and invariably 

 flies from her home when she quits it voluntarily, returning in the 

 same manner. The young are seldom fully grown before the end 

 of July. 



Diagnostic Characters, — Phasianus, with no white collar, 

 and with reddish brown wing coverts, and purplish red rump 

 (typical colchicus). Length : male, 30 to 36 inches, including tail ; 

 female, about 24 incfies, including tail.* The Pheasant has been 

 known to hybridise with the Black Grouse, and the Guinea Fowl. 

 Old females sometimes assume the plumage of the male. Males 

 subject to considerable variation in colour, ranging from pure 

 white through every intermediate stage to the normal colour. 

 Males moult June and July ; females July and August. 



* The two central rectrices of the cock Pheasant vary considerably in 

 length according to age, old birds being often met with in which these feathers 

 measure upwards of 24 inches. 



