298 GALLINA. PHASIANUS. ComMMoN 
«Genus XL. PHEASANT. PHASIANUS, Linn. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
Bill of mean length, strong; upper mandible convex, naked 
at the base, and}with the tip bent downwards. Nostrils basal 
and lateral, covered with a cartilaginous scale. Cheeks and 
region of the eyes destitute of feathers, and covered with a 
verrucose red skin. Wings short, the first quills equally 
narrowed towards their tips; the fourth and fifth the long- 
est. Tail long; remarkably wedge-shaped ; and composed 
of eighteen feathers. Feet having the three anterior toes 
united by a membrane as far as the first joint, and the hind 
toe articulated upon the tarsus, which, in the male birds, is 
furnished with a horny, cone-shaped, sharp spur. 
The only wild European species of this genus, although 
originally a native of Asia, has for so many years been na- 
turalised in this quarter of the globe, as to entitle it to hold a 
station in its Fauna; and the same apology may be offered for 
its introduction into the Ornithology of the British Islands. 
‘The sexes of this genus differ greatly in plumage; but in all 
the moult is ordinary and simple. The males are distin- 
guished by the brilliancy of their plumage, and by various 
accessory ornaments; the other sex is clothed in fainter and 
more sombre hues. They are polygamous. The female 
makes an artless nest upon the ground, amongst the herbage, 
and lays a great number of eggs. ‘The flesh of these birds is 
white, delicate, and highly esteemed. 
Common Pheasant.—Phasianus colchicus, Linze. 
PLATE 57. 
Phasianus colchicus, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 270. 3.—Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 741.—Briss. 
1. p. 262. 1.—Raii, Syn. p. 56. A. 1.—Wiil. p. 117. t. 28. 
Le Faisan vulgaire, Buff: Ois. v. 2. p. 328.—Jd. Pl. Enl. 121. and 122.— 
Temm. Pig. et Gall. v. 2. p. 289.—Jd. Man. d’Ornith. v. 2. p. 453. 
