Reeves's Pheasants were landed here alive and deposited in the Zoological Gardens ; Mi*. Stone has since 

 received several others, which are located in his pheasantries. In sending home these hirds Mr. Medhurst 

 was anxious that the Queen should have early possession of specimens ; and in compliance with this wish 

 one male and two females were offered to and graciously accepted by Her Majesty, and they are now in the 

 aviaries at Windsor Castle." 



That the Phasianus Reevesii is likely to breed in and ornament our aviaries for many years to come, there 

 can be little doubt; for its native country, the neighbourhood of Pekin, and the British Islands being nearly 

 in the same parallel of latitude, our climate cannot be an uncongenial one. Besides the locality above 

 mentioned, the bird is also said to be found in the Taihoo district of Central China, on the north side of 

 the Yang-tsze-Kiang. 



Latham mentions that he saw at Sir Joseph Banks's some fine drawings taken from Lady Banks's curious 

 collection of ancient porcelain, wherein is represented a mock fight on the water for the Emperor's amuse- 

 ment, supposed to be between his Tartarian aud Chinese subjects, personated by the females in his seraglio, — 

 the chieftains of the former having one of the barred feathers of this species on each side of the bonnet 

 (perhaps as an insigne of one order), the opponents or Chinese having two feathers of a Pheasant of a 

 smaller kind, probably of the Golden one ; and hence he concludes that the present bird is a native of 

 Tartary, and not unlikely to be as common there as the other is in China. 



As every scrap of information respecting a bird of which so little is known is of interest, I copy the 

 following extract from the ' Wanderings in New South Wales, &c.,' of Dr. George Bennett : — 



" In Mr. Beale's splendid aviary and garden at Macao the beautiful Phasianus veneratus of Temminck, the 

 P. Reevesii of Gray, now commonly known by the name of Reeves's Pheasant, was seen. It is the C/iee Kai 

 of the Chinese. The longest tail-feathers of this bird are six feet in length, and are placed in the caps of 

 the players when acting military characters. This I observed in Canton,* where some of the beautiful tail- 

 feathers (rather in a dirty condition, like the actors themselves, who in their tawdry dresses reminded me 

 of the chimney-sweeps in London on a May-day) were placed erect on each side their caps as a decoration. 

 The Chinese do not venerate this bird, as was first supposed, and which may have caused Temminck to 

 bestow upon it the name of veneratus ; but it is superstitiously believed that the blood of the bird is possessed 

 of poisonous properties, and that the Mandarins, when in expectation of losing their rank and being suddenly 

 put to death by order of the Emperor, preserve some of it upon a handkerchief in a dried state, on sucking 

 which they fall down and instantly expire. 



"Mr. Beale's first male specimen, obtained in 1808, was kept in a healthy state for thirteen years ; after 

 its death he endeavoured to procure others, but did not succeed until 1831, when four specimens were 

 brought from the interior of China, and purchased by him for 130 dollars ; these were, I believe, subse- 

 quently taken to England by Mr. Reeves." 



I am greatly indebted to James J. Stone, Esq., of Scyborwen, Llantrissent, for his kindness in submitting 

 to my inspection examples of this and many other fine Pheasants when they unfortunately die in his aviary. 



The male has the crown of the head, a spot under the eye, chin, and a broad collar round the neck white; 

 forehead, face, a V-shaped mark on the throat, a broad collar round the base of the neck, centre of the 

 abdomen, and under tail-coverts jet-black ; feathers of the upper surface and breast buflfy yellow, each 

 feather with a crescent of black at the tip ; centre of the wing black, with a mark of snow-white in the 

 centre of each feather; flanks rich chestnut, mottled with white and black; primaries blackish brown, 

 mottled with buff; tail silvery grey, margined with tawny buff, and crossed with numerous bands of black 

 and chestnut, those on the two central feathers being about sixty in number; bill and raised nostrils pale 

 pea-green ; legs and toes nearly uniform pale horn-colour ; spurs nearly black at tips ; naked skin before, 

 above, and behind the eye blood-red. 



The female has the parts of the head and neck, with the exception of the crown, yellowish buff, in lieu of 

 white as in the male; back of the neck beautifully marked with black, chestnut, and white, the latter of a 

 spear-shaped form in the centre of each feather; chest and flanks light chestnut-brown, with pale grey 

 edgings and trifurcated centres; centre of abdomen and under tail-coverts light buff; wings mottled brown 

 and black, each feather with a narrow streak of buff down the centre; rump dark, freckled brown, with a 

 dark streak down the centre ; five or six of the outer tail-feathers on each side rich chestnut, crossed by 

 irregular bands of black and white, and largely tipped with white ; central tail-feathers freckled brown and 

 black. 



The annexed Plate represents both sexes nearly of the size of life, with the exception of the splendid 

 feathers of their tails, which are of necessity omitted ; but their relative proportions are well shown in the 

 reduced figures in the distance. The length of the two central feathers of the male varies considerably in 

 different individuals, some being nearly six feet long, while others are only four or five. The female, as is 

 the case with the females of other Pheasants, is considerably smaller than the male, and has a relatively 

 shorter tail. 



