GAllE-BIUDS. 



2:^ 



Northern and Western China, is the giant of the genus, and remarkable 

 for its enormously long tail, which in old males attains a length of 5 feet 

 or even more. This grand game-bird has been introduced into various 

 parts of Great Britain, but cannot be considered a success, for the males 

 drive off the Common and Ring-necked Pheasants and do not interbreed 

 freely with the females of either species. 



It is well known that the Pheasants found in a semi-domesticated 

 state in this country are polygamous — that is to say, one male pairs 

 with many females ; but there is good reason for believing that this 

 habit has been acquired. All the evidence tends to show that in a 

 really wild state the various species of Phasianus are monogamous, tlie 

 cock bird remaining with the female during the period of incubation, 

 and taking part in the duties of protecting and rearing the young. In 

 this, as in other countries where Pheasants are reared for sport, the 

 greater number of birds killed are cocks, and hence in the following- 

 spring there is generally a preponderance of females, which may account 

 for the polygamous habits of introduced birds. 



The Barred-backed Pheasants [Calophasis) , of which there are two 

 species, are represented by Elliot's Pheasant (C. ellioti) (105), a rare 

 species from South-east China. The male is a particularly handsome 

 bird, the white belly and bands across the wings contrasting with the 

 fiery bronze-red of the rest of the plumage. 



The Cheer Pheasant {Catreus wallichi) (106), of which only one 

 species is known, is a crested form peculiar to the Himalaya and 

 extending from Chamba to Central Nepal. 



The Kalij Pheasants (Gennmts), of which the Silver Pheasant (107) 

 is typical, include seven well-marked species and a number of inter- 

 mediate forms. They are met with in the lower and middle wooded 

 ranges of the Himalaya, Burmah, South China, and Formosa. 



Considerable interest attaches to this group on account of the inter- 

 mediate links found between some of the Burmo-Chinese species. 



Of the Himalayan Kalij Pheasants exhibited the White-crested Kalij 

 (108) is found from Hazara to Nepal, where the Nepal Kalij (109) takes 

 its place ; in Sikhim and Western Bhotan the Black-backed Kalij (110) 

 occurs ; while in Eastern Bhotan, Assam, and Northern Burmah the 

 Black-breasted Kalij (111) is the only species found. Though these 

 four species touch in their ranges, so far as is known Lhey never inter- 

 grade with one another. On the other hand, the Black-bellied Kalij 

 and Silver Pheasants from South China are connected by a complete 

 chain of closely allied geographical forms. 



Swinhoe's Kalij (112), from the Island of Formosa, is a somewhat 

 distinct form, and the male, as will be seen, is the handsomest of all 

 the Kalij Pheasants. 



