110 PHEASANTS ADAPTED FOR THE COVERT. 



The first three lots of birds obtained all died before reaching England, with 

 the exception of one male, which lived for about three months. The fourth lot was 

 obtained in the direction of Syechney, about thirty days' journey from Hankow, and 

 from- it seven Reeves's pheasants were deposited in the Zoological Grardens, 

 Regent's Park. Since that time Mr. Stone has received several others. Mr. 

 Medhurst was anxious that Her Majesty the Queen should have early possession 

 of specimens of Thasianus reevesii ; and in compliance with his wish one male 

 and two females were offered to and graciously accepted by Her Majesty. Since 

 the successful reintroduction of these birds they have bred freely both in England 

 and on the Continent, and are now to be purchased at many of the dealers in 

 pheasants. 



With regard to the distribution of this bird in China, Mr. Saurin remarks : — 

 "The Reeves's pheasant, called by the Chinese Chi- CM, is very rarely seen in the 

 Pekin market. Eor a long time I failed to discover from what quarter they 



came Last winter I ascertained, however, that they came from the Tung-lin; 



and I have reason to suppose that they are to be found nowhere else in the 

 province of Chi-li. About twenty birds were brought down alive last winter. They 

 are never brought in frozen or by Mongols. Their flesh is very delicious, and 

 superior, to my taste, to that of any other pheasant." 



The general character of the plumage of the Reeves's pheasant is well shown 

 in the illustration. The head is covered by a cowl of white, surrounded by a band 

 of black, with a spot of white under the eye; the neck has a broad ring of white; 

 the feathers of the back and upper part of the breast are of a brilliant golden 

 yellow, margined with black ; those of the lower part of the breast are white, each 

 one presenting bands of black more or less irregular in their arrangement; the 

 under parts of the body are deep black; the tail is formed of eighteen feathers, 

 which are closely folded together, so that the entire tail appears narrow; at the 

 broadest part the feathers are about 2in. in breadth; the ground colour of each tail 

 feather is greyish-white in the centre, and golden red at the edges, and crossed 

 with crescent-shaped bars, which vary in number according to the length of the 

 feather, in the longest feathers being considerably more than fifty. 



A very interesting observation was made by the late Mr. Blyth on the voice 

 of this species. He states :— " I have heard the call-note of Reeves's pheasant, and 

 it was some time before I could satisfy myself that it actually proceeded from such 

 a bird. It is like the simple song of some small passerine bird, delivered in as high 

 a key as the song of the hedge sparrow {Accentor modularis), one of which happened 

 to be singing at the same time. A repetition of the same note seven or eight 

 times over, quite musical but not loud, being as unlike what would be expected 

 from such a bird as a pheasant, as the voices of sundry ColwmUdce are utterly 

 different from what would have been ' expected to proceed from pigeons and doves." 



