130 PHEASANTS ADAPTED FOE THE AYIARY. 



Consul Swinhoe states that, "This bu-d is found in the hills north of Pekin, 

 in Mantchuria, and brought in winter to Pekin in large numbers, both alive and 

 dead. It is called by the natives the Ho-ke. The feathers of this bird were 

 formerly worn by Tartar warriors. I have not seen the species in its wild state." 



Pere David informs us that these birds frequent the woods of high mountains, 

 and that they subsist much more upon- green vegetables, leaves of trees, and succu- 

 lent roots than upon grain. In their habits they are more gregarious than 

 the common pheasants, assembling together in flocks of considerable size. In 

 domestication they become exceedingly tame, feeding readily from the hand. When 

 at large they appear remarkably hardy; they breed when only one year old, and 

 acquire their adult plumage at the first autumnal moult. 



They possess the very rare instinct of domestication. I have seen specimens 

 at Mr. Stone's residence in the Welsh hills as familiar as barn-door fowls. In the 

 closely confined pens in our Zoological Gardens their increase has not been very 

 rapid, but they have proved themselves more hardy and prolific than common 

 turkeys would have been if placed under similar disadvantageous circumstances. 

 Mr. Bartlett writes: "Of the OrossoptUon we have reared nine fine birds the 

 second hatch, having lost by the gapes the first brood of seven." 



By placing a young brood in a large walled-in garden, where they could 

 obtain abundance of fresh vegetables and insect food, they should offer no more 

 difficulty in rearing than barn-door fowls ; all they would require would be custard 

 and lettuce in addition to ants' eggs, if obtainable; but fed on dry hard corn, and 

 kept in amall aviaries with brick floors, success is not to be expected. 



Of the allied species, Hodgson's OrossoptUon (C. thibetamm), is known 

 only by a single specimen in the British Museum. In this the general colour is 

 bluish-white, bjit the crown of the head is black, the wings dark, and the tail 

 black crossed with green and blue. It is a native of Thibet. 



Under the name of O. drouynii, a species very closely allied if, indeed, it 

 be not identical with the last, has been described and named by M. Verraux. It 

 differs in the Wings being bluish dark instead of dark brown, and in the tail being 

 smaller and less highly coloured. It is probably a local race. 



The original eared pheasant described by Pallas was a slaty-blue species. 

 Pallas's specimens have long been lost, but recently, owing to the indefatigable 

 exertions of Pere David, skins have been received at the Museum at Paris, and 

 the original C. auritum is now known to be perfectly distinct from the Mantchu- 

 rian species, with which alone we are familiar in the living state. 



