PHASIANUS SCEMMERRINGII, Temm. 



Scemmerrin^'s Pheasant. 



*& 



Phasianus Scemmerringii, Temm. PI. Col. 487, 488.— Sieb. Temm. et Schleg. Fauna Japonica, p. 104— Sclat. Proc. 



Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 117.— Gray, List of Spec, of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part iii. p. 24.— Id. Gen. 



of Birds, vol. iii. p. 497, Phasianus, sp. 6. 

 Graphephasianus Scemmerringii, Reichenb.— Gray, Cat. of Gen. and Subgen. of Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 104. 

 Graphophasianus Scemmerringii, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de l'Acad. des. Sci., torn. xlii. seance du 12 Mai 1856. 



Our first knowledge of the existence of this fine Pheasant is due to Dr. von Siebold, who was so long a 

 resident at the Dutch factory at Decima, in Japan. The venerable Temminck took advantage of the Doctor's 

 mission, and obtained, through his instrumentality, numerous specimens of this and many other rare birds. 

 The collection thus obtained formed the nucleus, if not the entirety, of the celebrated ' Fauna Japonica,' 

 in the production of which, Von Siebold, Temminck, Schlegel, and De Haan united their labours from 

 1833 to 1846. From 1830, when Siebold left Japan, until that island was thrown open to the world at 

 large, few, if any, additional specimens of this bird were transmitted to Europe, until about 1860; since 

 that date, however, not only have numerous skins been brought thence, but several attempts have been 

 made to introduce the living bird, some of which resulted in failure, while others were attended with 

 success ; and the bird now adorns our aviaries and has even bred in the Gardens of the Zoological 

 Society of London and in those at Antwerp. In a note received from Mr. Bartlett, the Society's 

 Superintendent, dated from their Gardens in the Regent's Park, April 11, 1867, he says " Scemmerring's 

 Pheasant bred here in June 1865. The female laid about ten eggs ; but only three or four birds were 

 hatched, and these died in a few days. The bird also bred in the Gardens at Antwerp, under the care 

 of M. Vekemauns ; but I am unable to say if the young arrived at maturity. In both places the males 

 exhibited a strong inclination to destroy the females ; and we came to the conclusion that this species is ill- 

 adapted to breed in captivity." The extreme pugnacity of the male has also reached me from another 

 source, whence I learn that not only do they fight with each other, but destroy their own females. We 

 have yet to ascertain if this disposition would continue to be exhibited were the bird allowed to roam at 

 large : the experiment ought to be made ; and this is a subject which should receive attention from the 

 Acclimatization Society. That the bird is very numerous in Japan is certain ; for Mr. Whitely had no 

 difficulty in obtaining as many examples as he required in the markets of Nagasaki. 



The sexes differ even more considerably from each other in outward appearance than do those of 

 Phasianus Colchicus and its near allies. 



It will be seen that I have not adopted Dr. Reichenbach's generic name of Graphephasianus for this bird, 

 though I might have done so with propriety, since these Copper Pheasants, as they are called, differ in many 

 respects from the more typical members of the genus Phasianus. 



The reasons given by Temminck for naming this bird Soemmerringii are embodied in the following passage 

 from the ' Nouveau recueil de planches coloriees cles Oiseaux ' of that celebrated ornithologist. 



" Cette espece remarquable et nouvelle, de l'ordre des Gallinaces, nous fournit une occasion favorable 

 de presenter l'expression de notre hommage empresse a un homme celebre, a un vieillard respectable, a un 

 anatomiste distingue, qui, par ses travaux scientifiques et par l'amenite de sa vie privee, repandit le gout de 

 l'etude, et fait cherir son commerce agreable. Puisse la dedicace de cette espece ofFerte aM. le professeur de 

 Soemmerring, etre accueillie par ce doyen des naturalistes, comme l'expression de la haute estime qu'il 

 inspire aux amis des sciences, qui s'empresserent de feter a Francfort, le 7 Avril 1828, le jubile donne en 

 son honneur, a Poccasion du cinquantieme anniversaire de sa carriere doctorale ! " 



The male has the whole of the upper surface and throat of a fine coppery brown, with a lighter border to 

 each feather, which in some lights appear of a purple hue, in others rich coppery red, and in others, again, 

 bright but deep flame-colour, this latter tint being especially conspicuous on the lower part of the back and 

 upper tail-coverts : this is the general appearance. On examining each feather singly, it is found to be grey 

 at the base, dark rich brown in the middle, with a broad stripe down the centre and on each side of dark 

 coppery brown, with a lustrous stripe on each side of the tip ; wing-coverts the same, but devoid of the 

 lustre at the tips; a few of the greater coverts with a narrow bar of creamy white at the tip, within which 

 is a still narrower one of black; primaries dark brown, crossed by irregular broken bands of a tawny hue ; 

 secondaries dark brown, freckled near the tip with tawny, and with a large patch of deep rufous near the 

 end of the outer web, becoming much paler at the extremity, on the tips at the inner webs of several of them 

 the double mark of white and black as on the greater coverts ; tail rich chestnut red, with black shafts, and 



