﻿YELLOW-NECKED 
  KOKLASS 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Pucrasia 
  xanthosftila 
  xanthosftila 
  Gray 
  

  

  Names. 
  — 
  Specific 
  : 
  xanthospila, 
  Gk. 
  %av06<;, 
  yellow, 
  at]2\o<;, 
  spot, 
  yellow-spotted. 
  English 
  : 
  Yellow-necked 
  

   or 
  Northern 
  China 
  Koklass 
  ; 
  Yellow-spotted 
  Pucras. 
  French 
  : 
  Pucrasia 
  a 
  cache 
  jaune. 
  Native 
  : 
  Song-ky 
  

   (Pine- 
  fowl, 
  Chinese). 
  

  

  Brief 
  Description. 
  — 
  Male: 
  Head, 
  neck 
  and 
  ventral 
  chestnut 
  much 
  as 
  in 
  macrolopha 
  ; 
  a 
  conspicuous 
  

   collar 
  of 
  yellow 
  ; 
  the 
  general 
  plumage 
  pattern 
  of 
  macrolopha 
  of 
  a 
  single, 
  central 
  black 
  stripe 
  is 
  changed 
  in 
  xantho- 
  

   spila, 
  the 
  stripe 
  being 
  divided 
  into 
  two 
  by 
  a 
  grey 
  shaft-stripe 
  ; 
  outer 
  tail-feathers 
  pearl 
  grey 
  crossed 
  with 
  a 
  black 
  

   bar 
  ; 
  a 
  subterminal 
  band 
  of 
  black 
  and 
  a 
  white 
  tip. 
  Female 
  : 
  resembles 
  the 
  female 
  of 
  macrolopha, 
  except 
  for 
  outer 
  

   tail-feathers, 
  which 
  are 
  like 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  male. 
  

  

  Range. 
  — 
  From 
  central 
  Szechuan 
  north-east 
  to 
  Pekin. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  Although 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  given 
  as 
  north-western 
  China, 
  extending 
  into 
  

   Manchuria 
  and 
  eastern 
  Tibet, 
  I 
  can 
  find 
  no 
  definite 
  records 
  for 
  the 
  extremes 
  here 
  

   included. 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  bird 
  within 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  miles 
  of 
  Pekin, 
  and 
  specimens 
  

   have 
  been 
  recorded 
  from 
  Kansu 
  and 
  as 
  far 
  west 
  as 
  Tatsienlu 
  in 
  Szechuan 
  (lat. 
  N. 
  30 
  — 
  

   long. 
  W. 
  102 
  ). 
  So 
  until 
  we 
  learn 
  more 
  of 
  the 
  vast 
  region 
  included 
  between 
  these 
  two 
  

   localities, 
  over 
  a 
  thousand 
  miles 
  apart, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  idle 
  to 
  do 
  more 
  than 
  connect 
  them 
  

   with 
  an 
  indefinite 
  line, 
  extending 
  along 
  the 
  general 
  mountain 
  ranges. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  Pere 
  David's 
  few 
  observations 
  on 
  the 
  Yellow-necked 
  Koklass 
  still 
  comprise 
  almost 
  

   a 
  summary 
  of 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  this 
  species. 
  He 
  says, 
  vaguely 
  enough, 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  

   keep 
  chiefly 
  to 
  the 
  forests 
  and 
  undergrowth, 
  and 
  in 
  these 
  places 
  they 
  occur 
  singly 
  or 
  in 
  

   pairs. 
  Their 
  food 
  consists 
  of 
  grain 
  and 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  conifers, 
  and 
  their 
  flesh 
  is 
  delicious 
  

   eating, 
  with 
  sometimes 
  an 
  aromatic 
  odour, 
  being 
  superior 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  pheasants 
  

   of 
  this 
  region. 
  

  

  Several 
  authors 
  mention 
  this 
  Koklass 
  as 
  being 
  brought 
  to 
  the 
  markets 
  of 
  Pekin 
  

   regularly, 
  but 
  in 
  fewer 
  numbers 
  than 
  the 
  true 
  pheasants 
  {Phasianus). 
  Saurin 
  says 
  they 
  

   are 
  often 
  brought 
  alive 
  and 
  never 
  frozen, 
  and 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  men 
  who 
  have 
  these 
  in 
  

   their 
  possession 
  are 
  Chinese, 
  and 
  not 
  Mongols, 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  

   are 
  not 
  found 
  beyond 
  the 
  mountains 
  which 
  enclose 
  China 
  proper 
  on 
  the 
  north. 
  

  

  Late 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  when 
  I 
  visited 
  Pekin 
  the 
  most 
  thorough 
  search 
  in 
  the 
  markets 
  

   brought 
  to 
  light 
  only 
  two 
  bedraggled 
  cock 
  Koklass, 
  whose 
  crops 
  were 
  empty 
  and 
  whose 
  

   bodies 
  were 
  so 
  far 
  gone 
  in 
  dissolution 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  impossible 
  to 
  test 
  the 
  assertion 
  as 
  to 
  

   the 
  deliciousness 
  of 
  their 
  flesh. 
  As 
  the 
  plague 
  had 
  been 
  raging 
  a 
  few 
  weeks 
  before, 
  

   there 
  were 
  almost 
  no 
  pheasants 
  of 
  any 
  kind 
  to 
  be 
  had. 
  

  

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