CHAPTEE XIII. 



PHEASANTS ADAPTED TO THE COVERT 

 (CONTINUED). 



THE JAPANESE PHEASANT {PHA8IANU8 

 VEBSIGOLOR). 



r'APAN, among the numerous objects of interest witli 

 wliicli it has furnished Europe^ has supplied us 

 with the most gorgeous of the true pheasants — 

 P. versicolor. It is doubtful, indeed, whether any of 

 the gallinaceous group, magnificent as many of them 

 are, can surpass this bird in resplendent brilliancy. 

 The wonderful dark grass green of the breast, that no painter 

 can equal, the dark blue of the neck, and the brilliant scarlet 

 of the face, taken together, constitute one of the most 

 effective combinations of colour to be found in the whole 

 class of birds. This splendid addition to the fauna of Great 

 Britain was utterly unknown in a living state in Europe sixty 

 years since. In 1840 a few birds were brought to Amsterdam 

 from Japan. Of these a pair passed into the possession of 

 the Earl of Derby — the grandfather of the present Earl — a 

 man whose memory as a zoologist will be green when party 

 strife is forgotten. Of this pair the female died, and the 

 breed was established by crossing the male with several 

 females of the ordinary species, and then pairing the half- 

 bred progeny with the old male, and continuing the breeding 

 back until the offspring were no longer capable of being 

 distinguished from the original bird. 



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