318 



season they frequent the fields which have been harvested, and one can scarcely walk five paces 

 without driving one up. As the inhabitants of these districts seldom molest these birds, they have 

 no fear of man, and are found in the vicinity of habitations." Messrs. Radde and Walter shot a 

 male and two females on the 19th May on the Tchandyr, fifteen versts from Dusulum, in a high 

 tamarisk-thicket, but did not then notice that they differed from P. principalis. With regard to 

 the range of the two species, they remark (Vdg. Transcasp. p. 92) that " one must agree that it 

 is not impossible that P. principalis, which is the species inhabiting the Turkoman plains at the 

 south-west foot of the Kopet-dag, may occur in the Atrek district, for the sources of the 

 Soumbar (a tributary of the Atrek) reach close to the north side of the mountain, and are only 

 separated from the lowlands by a comparatively low pass (Bendessen, about 3000 feet). We 

 found the vegetation in this pass closely resembling localities which the Pheasant affects. We 

 know also that further east P. principalis penetrates far into the Kopet-dag at Kelat, and in 

 the upper part of the Derege, and occurs at greater altitudes than Bendessen. Further east, 

 again, on the Keschefrud, it is found deep in the mountains, and in 1887, according to 

 General Komaroff, three were killed at Kulkulau, a locality very near to the sources of the 

 Soumbar. It is certain that a Pheasant is found at the south foot of the Kopet-dag, in the 

 extensive gardens of Kotchan, though it is said not to occur in Mesched. It is at present, 

 however, impossible to say if this is P. principalis or P. persicus." 



As may be supposed, the Persian Pheasant does not differ in its habits from its near allies 

 P. colchicus and P. principalis. 



Its nest and eggs are described by Messrs. Radde and Walter (I. c.) as follows : — " On the 

 7/19 May, 1886, we found a nest of P. persicus in the valley of the Tchandyr, an affluent 

 of the Soumbar. It was in a small grass-covered depression surrounded by hills, about ^ km. 

 from the river-bank in high stiff grass far from bushes. It consisted of a shallow round 

 depression scantily lined with grass-bents and stems of plants. The eggs, nine in number, were 

 near hatching." They describe these latter as differing considerably from those of P. colchicus, 

 being stouter in shape, uniform olive-grey-green in colour, verging slightly towards leather- 

 yellow, resembling richly coloured eggs of the Common Partridge, and measuring 42 - 5 millim. 

 by 36 - 5 millim. 



Mr. Lorenz described the Pheasant from the Talysch Valley as new, under the name of 

 Phasianus colchicus, subsp. talischensis, and that from the mouth of the Kuban River to the 

 Caspian under the name of P. colchicus, subsp. septentrionalis (J. f. O. 1888, pp. 571, 572). 

 For an adult male of the latter I am indebted to Mr. Th. Pleske, of St. Petersburg, and after 

 a careful comparison with specimens of Ph. colchicus I cannot find any valid character by which 

 it can be separated from that species, and in this view Mr. Ogilvie Grant agrees with me. The 

 latter gentleman, however, accords subspecific rank to Phasianus talischensis (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xxii. p. 324), and says that it " differs from typical P. colchicus and resembles P. persicus in having 

 the middle of the breast and sides of the belly purplish carmine, and the chest and upper parts 

 narrowly margined with purple. It differs from P. persicus and resembles P. colchicus in the 

 colour of the wing-coverts, which are sandy brown instead of nearly white." ^ 



I do not possess a specimen of this form, but am indebted to the Hon. Walter Rothschild 

 for the loan of an adult male from Lenkoran, and have carefully examined the pair in the British 



