CHRTSOLOPHUS 

 GOLDEN PHEASANTS 



Order GALLIFORMES 



Family PHASIANIDAE 



Subfamily PHASIANINAE 



Genus CHRYSOLOPHUS 



The Golden and the Amherst Pheasants form a very natural genus, well isolated 

 and demarcated from the others of this family. Linnaeus placed the species, with 

 which he was acquainted, in the all-inclusive genus Phasianus, and although they have 

 since rightly been separated, yet it is probable that in any linear classification, unnatural 

 though it be, the two groups would come rather near together. 



These pheasants are small in comparison with the general run of their allies, and 

 the sexes are very unlike in appearance. The two known species are closely related, 

 and offer an excellent illustration of differentiation of pattern and colour, while structurally 

 they are almost identical. This is not by any means invariably the case with other birds, 

 and in many instances the apparently evanescent phenomenon of pigmentation outlasts 

 and outvalues changes in actual structure and dimensions of feathers and other tissues. 

 The presence or absence of feathering on the face is almost the only structural difference 

 between these species. 



The males have elongated stiffened crests, and a very remarkable cape, specialized 



both as to musculature, structure and pigment. The tail-feathers are long and slightly 



arched, and the entire plumage shows a very high degree of specialization of colour. 



As is so often true, it is impossible to indicate which is the more ancestral type. That 



vanished form probably lay midway, the two descendants each developing specialization 



in different parts of the plumage. For instance, while the pure white of the Amherst's 



cape is far more of an extreme specialization than the orange of the Golden, yet the 



barbless extremities of the feathers of the latter are specializations of an extremely high 



order. 



KEY TO CHRYSOLOPHUS 



I A large cape of feathers (males). 



a Feather cape orange and black f ictus. 



b Feather cape white and black amherstiae, 



II No cape present (females). 



a Facial skin completely feathered pictus. 



b Facial skin partly bare amherstiae. 



