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CHAPTEE XI. 

 The Chinese Pheasant 



(Phai-ianus tarqiiatus) . 



ONSUL SWINHOE, Mr. Dudley E. Saurin, Pere 

 • David, Prjevalski, and other naturalists who have 

 investigated the fauna of the Chinese Empire unite in 

 confirming the belief that this pheasant (P- torqiuitus) is the 

 most common species in China, abounding in vast numbers 

 in the hill coverts and cotton fields. Mr. Saurin states : " The 

 common Chinese pheasant is found everywhere in the north of 

 China. I am not aware how much further south they are found 

 than Shanghai ; but in that neighbourhood, since the devasta- 

 tion of the country by the Tai-pings, they are shot by hundreds. 

 Thousands are brought doMm to the Pekin market in a frozen 

 state by the Mongols, from as far north as the Amour. At the 

 new Eussian port of Poussiet, conterminous with the Corea, 

 the same pheasant abounds. I myself have seen them wild 

 in the Imperial hunting grounds north of Jehol, and in the 

 mountains near Ku-peh-kow." 



Consul Swinhoe says that it is very common near Hankow, 

 and at all the places that have been visited by Europeans 

 north of the Yangtze. Formosa swarms with these birds ; 

 the specimens found there, however, differ from those of the 

 typical race by having the ochreous feathers on the flanks 

 exceedingly pale, and by some writers this local variety has 

 been described as a distinct species under the name of 

 P. formosanus. 



The characters of the pure-bred Chinese P. torquatus were 

 given in minute detail by the late Mr. Gould in his magnificent 

 foHo, " The Birds of Asia." They are as follows : — " The male 



