114 PHEASANTS ADAPTED FOR THE AVIARY. 



is that of the Golden Pheasant, whose elegant form and brilliant colouring 

 are so well known in this country. . The male runs very playfully after the 

 female, and, placing himself in front of her, quickly expands his coUar, bringing 

 nearly the whole of it round to the side where it is to be exhibited, and thereby 

 presenting to view a flat disc of bright orange-red, banded with perfect regularity 

 by blue-black semicircles ; the hen on seeing this frequently runs away pursued by 

 her would-be mate, who generally finds himself placed with his other side towards 

 her, and the collar is accordingly shown on that side. At the moment the full 

 expansion of the collar takes place, the bird utters a very snake-like hiss, which, 

 according to our notions, would not be very fascinating as a love-song ; the body is 

 very much distorted, as is the case with the true pheasants, but the tail is not 

 spread so much, as the curved, roof-Hke shape prevents its forming a flat surface. 

 SHght breaks would occur in the black stripes of the coUar when expanded, were it 

 not that each feather has a second black stripe which is so placed as effectually to 

 Torevent this." 



Below this tippet on the lower part of the neck the feathers are deep-green 

 margined with velvet black ; below this again are the scapular feathers of a dark 

 crimson ; the back and rump are golden yellow ; the tail itself is very long, the two 

 longest central feathers are covered with small irregular circles of light-brown on 

 a dark ground, giving them a mottled appearance ; the other feathers are barred 

 ^agonally with dark brown on a lighter ground. On each side of the base of the 

 tail extend the long narrow upper tail coverts of a bright orange crimson. The 

 wings when closed show the deep blue tertiaries covering the chesnut secondary 

 quills. The upper part of the throat is light-brown; the breast and under parts 

 orange-scarlet. Taken altogether, its appearance is so remarkable that it looks more 

 like one of the bizarre creations of Chinese fancy than a real bird. The birds of 

 this genus differ from the true" pheasants, in the fact that the mature masculine 

 plumage is not assumed until the autumn of the second year; the young cocks 

 looking, during the first twelve months of their lives, very much like the hens, 

 from which, however, they can be readily distinguished by pulling one or two of the 

 feathers of the neck, which are reproduced of the distinctive masculine character. 



The hens are very plain and unobtrusive, being barred with alternate shades 

 of light and dark brown. When barren, they, like the other birds of the family, 

 assume the more gorgeous apparel of the male. 



Under the name of the Black-Throated or Java Golden Pheasant {Thaumalea 

 ohsGura) a variety of this bird has been described as " a good species." It is 

 evidently merely a variety that, like the black-winged peacock, may appear at any 

 time amongst birds of the ordinary type, and could never be regarded as a species 

 by those who have studied the subject of variation practically. It differs merely in 

 the upper part of the throat being darker in colour and obscurely spangled, in the 



