GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND ASIA. 6l 



Persian Pheasant. 



Phasianus persicus, Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, Vol. XXII, 

 P- 324- 



The Persian race comes nearest the Common Pheasant, but 

 is rather lighter and has the wing-coverts nearly white, thus 

 approaching the Murghab race ; the hen, however, is as dark as 

 that of the Common Pheasant. The Pheasants of the Zerafshan 

 and Tarim valleys (P. zerafshanicus and P.- tarimensis) are sub- 

 races of this form. 



Strauch's Pheasant. 



Phasianus sirauohi , 'Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, Vol, XXII, 

 P- 330- 



Strauch's Pheasant, from the mountains of Kan-su and 

 Sze-chuen, is somewhat like the Common Pheasant, but has 

 grey wing-coverts and the rump grey and green, thus approaching 

 the Ring-neck ; the sub-race P. herezowskyi differs but little. 



Hagenbeck's Pheasant. 



Phasianus hagenbecki, Rothschild, Bull. Brit. Ornith, 

 Club, Vote XII, p. 20. 



Is a paler and more distinctly marked race of the Ring-neck, 

 from Mongolia ; it ranges the furthest north of these pheasants, 

 as the typical Ring-neck goes furthest south; the Satschuen 

 Pheasant (P. satschuensis) is also a pale Ring-neck. 



Collarless Pheasant. 



Phasianus decollatus, Brit. Jlus. Cat., Birds, Vol. XXlf , 

 P- 331- 



This bird, from East Yunnan and West China, is much Uke 

 the Chinese Ring-neck, but has the white collar absent or only 

 just indicated, and the breast- feather with broader dark margins. 



Many more races have been described, M. Buturlin naming 

 twice as many as are described here ; but in a book intended for 

 sportsmen, as this is, it is unnecessary to go into details about 

 them ; it will have been seen already that, as it is, except for half- 

 a-dozen or so, these local forms are hard to make out, and even 

 the best characterised races breed so freely together that their 

 distinction as species is very doubtful. 



