THE CHINESE PHEASANT. 95 



length not exceeding 2ft. 5in., whicli is about 6in. short of that of the common 

 bird; its eggs, which are of a pale olive stone colour, are smaller, being about 

 Ifin. long by l|^in. in breadth. The pure Chinese is a bird of bold flight, 

 rising through the covert with great quickness, and then pursuing a swift, straight 

 course. It is unquestionably a most ornamental addition to our game birds, being 

 valuable not only for the beauty of its plumage, but also for the delicacy of its 

 flesh. The breed is, however, kept in a state of absolute purity with some diflB.culty, 

 as the males are apt to wander to "fresh fields and pastures new." Hence crosses 

 between it and the common species are very prevalent ; these constitute what 

 are usually called the ring-necked pheasants. These cross-bred birds are perfectly 

 fertile, not only with either pure race, but also inter se. They are, however, 

 variable in plumage, the amount of white in the neck varying from four or five 

 feathers to a nearly complete circle, and the feathers on the flanks being intermediate 

 between the beautiful spotted buff of the pure Chinese and the dark colour of the 

 common bird. These ring-necks are now common in most parts of the country 

 where pheasants are preserved. The good points of the Chinese are largely shared 

 by their half-bred progeny; hence the cross between the common and the Chinese 

 is a valuable introduction to our preserves, retaining as it does to so great a degree 

 the beauty and early fertility of the pure Chinese race, to which it adds great 

 hardihood and larger size, but the birds are generally regarded as more apt to 

 stray, and some gourmets maintain they are not quite so good a bird on the table 

 as the pure-bred P. colchicus. 



The extent to which the interbreeding of the two species has taken place 

 is well shown in the following interesting account taken from Mr. Stevenson's 

 " Birds of Norfolk " :— " In its semi-domesticated state, like our pigeons and 

 poultry, the common pheasant crosses readUy with its kindred species, and to so 

 great an extent has this been carried in Norfolk that, except in the wholly 

 unpreserved districts, it is difficult at the present time to find a perfect specimen of 

 the old English type (P. colchicus) without some traces, however slight, of the 

 ring-neck, and other marked features of the Chinese pheasant (P. torquatus), and in 

 many localities of the Japanese (P. versicolor). In looking over a large number of 

 pheasants from different coverts, as I have frequently done of late years in our 

 fish market, I have noticed every shade of difference from the nearly pure-bred 

 ring-neck, with its buff-coloured flanks and rich tints of lavender, and green on the 

 wing and tail-coverts, to the common pheasant in its brilliant but less varied 

 plumage, with but one feather in its glossy neck just tipped with a speck of white. 

 Some birds of the first cross are scarcely distinguishable from the true P. torquatm, 

 and are most gorgeous objects when flushed in the sunlight on open ground; but 

 as the 'strain' gradually dies out, the green and lavender tints on the back begin 

 to fade, and the rich orange flanks are toned down by degrees; though stiU the 



