PHEASANTS 



*) 



Phasianus 



Gmel. 



torquatus 



(Lat., the bird of the river Phasis; collared). 



RING-NECKED PHEASANT. 

 A Chinese species introduced into 

 various parts of this country ap- 

 parently with success. Well es- 

 tablished in the east, particularly in 

 Mass. and in the west, especially 

 in Ore. and Wash. It apparently 

 thrives much better here than the 

 English, Green or Golden Pheasant, 

 all of which have been liberated here. 

 Plumage as shown, the cock very 

 handsomely and brilliantly colcred, 

 while the hen is clothed in demure 

 browns. L., c? up to 36.00, half 

 of which is in the tail; 9 about 22.00. 

 i^gS^ — Eight to fifteen, plain brown- 

 ish-drab; in tall grass usually border- 

 ing fields. 



first domesticated, but the slightly larger variety found in 

 Texas and Mexico, which was first sent across the water, 

 there to be kept as barnyard fowl. While the Wild Turkey 

 is exceedingly shy, in some respects he is quite foolish, for, 

 with no thought of the consequences, he would follow the 

 trail of corn down a shallow trench and up into the log pen 

 provided for his capture. It was this method of trapping, 

 more than the rifles of our ancestors, that made the wild 

 bird a thing of the past in New England. 



Turkeys have extraordinary eyesight; it is to their eyes 

 that they trust to discover danger and upon their legs that 

 they depend to escape it. A hunter and his dog may 

 follow one a merry chase before he finally puts it to flight 

 and then it will probably rise beyond the reach of his gun. 

 The most experienced and successful hunters are those who 

 can lie in wait in a turkey haunt and call them into view by 

 clever imitation of their gobbling. The gobblers have the 

 same propensities as are shown by the barnyard birds, but 

 the conflict between males in spring is far more furious. 



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