136 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



lovers of these birds in establishing them on estates where considerable stretches of 

 mountainous country somewhat reproduce their native Himalayas. It is hardly 

 possible that the Impeyan can long survive its feral extermination. 



The very specimens from which the species was named and described were kept for 

 some time in captivity in India, but died on the voyage when Lady Impey attempted to 

 bring them to England. 



The first mention of these birds laying and hatching in captivity is in the years 

 1854 and 1856, and from this period onward we find the two chief sources of experimen- 

 tation to be the London Zoological Gardens and the Jardin d'Acclimatation. Looking 

 back on the results of the subsequent fifty years, we find that remarkably painstaking 

 care was exercised to bring about success both by English and French aviculturists. It 

 is from the latter, however, that we learn by far the most, for while we read much about 

 Impeyans being "bred" in England, we find that this means in many instances only 

 hatched. Again, the Frenchmen give us many valuable details of their failures as well 

 as successes, while English failures are marked only by the absence of the bird's name 

 from the indices of their publications. 



The results of the first extended attempt at breeding by the London Zoological 

 Society may well excuse the high hopes aroused for future acclimatization. Of the 

 Impeyan and four other species of pheasants we read that "in 1858 the five species 

 above mentioned produced 184 eggs, from which no less than 120 birds were hatched, 

 and 1 1 1 reared. These were, for the most part, disposed of by sale to various members 

 of the Society having facilities for continuing the experiment." Here we are told 

 definitely of the rearing, but nothing of the percentage of each species, whether eleven 

 or one hundred Impeyans were brought to maturity. 



Nothing appears to have been published by the purchasers of the above birds, and, 

 although between the years 1848 and 1868 there are recorded thirty-three instances of 

 the Impeyan "breeding" in the London Zoological Gardens, yet the collapse of this 

 pheasant's " boom " was almost complete. At the end of 1878 it is admitted that a 

 number of the Indian pheasants early imported in such numbers had become almost 

 extinct in Europe. "The Impeyan has not bred with us since 1871, and has, I believe, 

 likewise failed on the Continent." In France we read of such experiences as when one 

 enthusiast purchased four Impeyans for seven hundred dollars, and in two years of most 

 careful endeavour obtained only five young birds, which died one after the other, 

 although one reached the adult stage, so we do not wonder that he is moved to add that 

 " Ces echecs me degouterent des Lophophores ! " 



I have taken up this phase of the Impeyans history in such detail with the 

 deliberate intention of emphasizing the importance of protecting the wild birds which 

 remain in all the regions where Caucasian laws carry weight. 



In captivity Impeyans in general may begin to lay as early as the second or third 

 week in April, and the eggs are deposited three or four clays apart. A careful reckoning 

 of several scores of individual layings shows the average number to be about the same 

 as among wild birds. There seems to be more or less individuality in regard to the 

 size of the set, as a hen which has deposited six eggs or eight eggs early in the season, 

 will occasionally again produce a similar number if the first are taken away. The 

 period of incubation is from twenty-six to twenty-eight days. 



