PHASIANUS PEBSICUS. 



(PERSIAN PHEASANT.) 



Phasianus persicus, Severtzoff, Bull. Mosc. pt. 2, p. 208 (1874). 



Phasianus shawi, Elliot, Ibis, 1876, p. 132. 



Phasianus komarovi (nee Bogd.), Zarudny, Ois. de la Contree Transcasp. p. 63 (1885). 



Figura nulla. 



Ad. capite et collo metallico-viridibus, torque nullo, ut in P. colchico : sed albedine alarum ut in P. mongolico : 

 plumis pectoris lanceolatis, toto limbo, non solo apice, tenuissime nigro marginatis : caet. fere ut in 

 P. colchico, a quo alis et pectore prsesertim differt. {Severtzoff.) 



Adult Male (Soumbar, Transcaspia). Differs from P. colchicus in having the feathers on the breast and 

 fore part of the back less rufous and more golden orange in colour ; the rump and upper tail-coverts 

 coppery red ; the breast and the sides of the abdomen washed with purplish carmine ; the feathers on 

 the flanks with broader purplish-black margins, those on the breast with narrower margins ; the black 

 bars on the tail much narrower, and the lesser and median wing-coverts nearly white : bill, feet, and 

 iris as in P. colchicus. Total length about 34 inches, culmen 1% wing 9*5, tail 19 - 8, tarsus 2'9. 



Adult Female. Undistinguishable from the female of P. colchicus. 



\ 

 First described by Dr. Severtzoff from near Astrabad, the present species has not got a very 



extensive range, being found in the valleys of the Atrek, Soumbar, and Tchandyr Rivers, and on 



the south-east of the Caspian. 



Dr. Aitchison obtained a specimen at Bander-i-ghaz, on the Caspian, where, he remarks, it 



is said to be now rare. Prof. Bogdanoff (Consp. Av. Boss. i. p. 20) gives its range as the valley of 



the Atrek River, Achour-Ade, and the peninsula of Potemkine. Mr. Zarudny says (I. c.) that 



" the main portions of the mountains of the Kopet-dag, the Kueren-dag, and the Zar-i-kouh form 



the northern boundary of the range of our Pheasant. Within the limits of the district I 



explored large numbers were met with on the low bush-covered islets of the Tchirin-Tchai and 



Kizil-Kan Rivers, belonging to the basin of the Atrek. I also observed them near the village 



of Bendessen, on the banks of a river near this basin, which disappears on the southern slopes 



of the Kueren-dag Mountains. In spite of the conveniences which are found on the Kulkulau 



and Gjarmaou Rivers and the vicinity of the sources of the Tchirin-Tchai, I have never observed 



it in these localities." Again in 1890 (Recher. Zool. Transcasp. p. 105) he writes, "It is 



common on the banks of the Soumbar, the Tchandyr, and the Atrek, wherever the valleys on 



these rivers are covered with eyots of rushes, interspaced with tracts, some of which are bare and 



others covered with high grass. Late in August and early in September some of the adult and 



some of the young are fully moulted, whereas most of the young birds are still in moult. At this 



2x 



