PLATE XVIII 



BROWN EARED-PHEASANT 

 Crossoptilon mantchuricum Swinhoe 



On a cold day in early April, on a tundra-like expanse far beyond Pekin, I watched this flock of 

 Eared-Pheasants drift past. Around my umbrella tent, tiny voles appeared whenever the sun shone ; 

 buntings and wagtails dashed down for a few minutes, feeding ; small, timid musk deer walked slowly 

 downward toward the stream at the valley bottom. The pheasants fed as they moved, gathering about some 

 tuft of grass and uprooting it with their stout beaks to search the loam for grubs and tubers. They did 

 not suspect my presence, they uttered no sound, and in a few minutes they had passed out of my sight 

 for ever. 



