14 



THE GAME BREEDER 



and possessed a prominent spike. The 

 wattles and ear-lobes were very well de- 

 veloped. The measurements of different 

 parts of the body were as follows : 



Millimeters. 



Length of upper mandible 18 



Width of mandible at base 13 



Length of tarsus 58 



Length of middle toe 54 



Weight, 1 pound, 14 ounces. 



The color of the eye was a faded yellow. 



DESCRIPTION OF TPIE HYBRID. 



The color of the head and neck was 

 dark because of the presence of much 

 black in the feathers. The yellow, how- 

 ever, showed through to a considerable 

 extent, especially on the top of the head, 

 on the forehead, and on the upper 

 throat region. The space immediately 

 surrounding the eye was red. A slightly 

 purplish irridescence appeared on the 

 feathers of the lower neck. The gen- 

 eral color of the body and back was a 

 mixture of light yellow, darker yellow, 

 chestnut, and also black, in very irregu- 

 lar patterns. In many instances the 

 black formed a double stripe on the 

 feathers, while the chestnut was usually 

 present on the edge of the feather and 

 formed a band. The feathers of the 

 rump and the tail coverts had many 

 small black specks. The flights were a 

 mixture of black and light yellow. The 

 primaries were darker at the distal end. 

 The tail feathers had an appearance 

 more like the primaries. The comb was 

 very low, having somewhat the appear- 

 ance of a rose comb, but without the 

 spike. The wattles and ear-lobes were 

 absent. The eye had a yellowish tinge 

 between faded yellow and a bay color. 

 The measurements of various parts of 

 the body were as follows : 



Millimeters. 



Length of upper mandible 26 



Width of mandible at base 18 



Length of the wing 224 



Longest tail feather 213 



Length of tarsus 70 



Length of middle toe 65 



Weight, 3 pounds, 3 ounces. 



For the first few weeks of its life, this 

 hybrid more nearly approached pheasant 

 chicks (Ring- Necks) in both color and 

 call. When the feathers began to come. 



however, the bird lost some of its re- 

 semblance to pheasant youngsters and 

 also ceased its call except when fright- 

 ened. The bird was kept carefully cooped 

 to avoid its destruction by vermin. In 

 spite of being fed and watered three or 

 four times daily, it grew and remained 

 very wild; two ducklings were put into 

 the coop, but they seemed to exert no 

 taming effect. After several months, it 

 was transferred to a turkey yard in 

 which were its parents, pigeons, and 

 turkeys. Very soon, the hybrid became 

 much more domesticated. As an adult, 

 nothing has been observed in its be- 

 havior to indicate sex; its call (only 

 when frightened) is of a higher note 

 than the cock pheasant's and is some- 

 what like that of a cornered rat. 



COMPARISON OF THE PHEASANT, BANTAM 

 AND HYBRID. 



The general shape of the head of the 

 hybrid was much more like that of the 

 pheasant. It lacked, however, the vel- 

 vety feathers on the face, and did not 

 have the extension into the ear-lobes, 

 which was prominent on the pheasant. 

 The bill of the hybrid was shaped some- 

 what like that of the pheasant, but was 

 rather lighter in color. It was also more 

 grayish in appearance than that of the 

 bantam. The general color of the body 

 plumage resembled more closely that of 

 the pheasant, except that the markings 

 of the hybrid were not so regular, and 

 more of the light yellow of the mother 

 was apparent. The shape of the wing 

 resembled more closely that of the ban- 

 tam, but it was considerably longer. It 

 did not, moreover, show the peculiar 

 color and definite bars characteristic of 

 the tail of the pheasant. The longest 

 feathers of the tail were broad and 

 rounded at the tip. They were much 

 less long and tapering than those of the 

 pheasant. They were carried, more- 

 over, in a more erect position, showing 

 no tendency to trail as did those of the 

 father. The reason for this obviously 

 lies in the anatomical structure of the 

 tail-bearing portion, which resembles 

 more closely that of the bantam. While 

 in the pheasant the legs and feet were 

 quite dark, and in the bantam a faded 



