Local Varieties. 181 



it must be confessed that they are remarkably insignificant. 

 There is the same glossy, shining green of the head and neck, 

 the white ring completely surrounding the neck, the pale 

 greenish tail and wing coverts, but the breast and flanks are less 

 distinctly spangled, the under parts being of a more uniform 

 red. 



The sUght change in the plumage is doubtless owing to the 

 influence of a change of climate acting through many genera- 

 tions, added, perhaps, to a change of diet. We are informed 

 by Mr. J. Enghsh Torbett that the ripe seeds of the Calla 

 sethiopica, so common as a greenhouse plant in this country, 

 are much sought after by the pheasants in St. Helena, and that 

 it forms a large portion of their food. 



Closely aUied to the ordinary Chinese pheasant is a bird 

 which has been described as a distinct species by Consul 

 Swinhoe, under the title of the Eingless Chinese Pheasant 

 (P. decollatus). It was obtained by him at Chung- king-foo, in 

 Szechuen, and a somewhat similar bird was procured by Pere 

 David, at Moupin, near the Thibetan boundary. I cannot 

 regard these birds as anything more than mere local varieties 

 of the ordinary Chinese species, and must refer those who wish 

 to trace the slight distinctions between them to Mr. ElUot's 

 " Phasianidse," in which they are figured. In the same 

 magnificent folio will be found engravings of the Yarkand 

 Pheasant (P. insignis) and' Shaw's Pheasant (P. shawi), 

 both closely allied to the common Chinese species, if not merely 

 to be regarded as geographical variations from it. Neither is 

 known in a living state in Europe, and consequently does not 

 require detailed notice in the present work. 



