﻿THE 
  COMMON 
  KOKLASS 
  PHEASANT 
  AND 
  ITS 
  ALLIES 
  7 
  

  

  the 
  superficial 
  appearance 
  of 
  his 
  very 
  much 
  overstuffed 
  type 
  specimens. 
  Careful 
  com- 
  

   parison 
  shows 
  practically 
  no 
  difference 
  in 
  size, 
  and 
  where 
  there 
  is 
  some 
  distinction, 
  the 
  

   slight 
  increase 
  is 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  macrolopha. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  alternative 
  but 
  to 
  give 
  subspecific 
  

   rank 
  to 
  these 
  forms, 
  although 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  even 
  trinomials 
  do 
  not 
  tell 
  the 
  whole 
  truth, 
  as 
  

   biddulphi 
  lies, 
  geographically, 
  between 
  castanea 
  and 
  macrolopha. 
  

  

  East 
  of 
  Kumaon 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  Koklass 
  Pheasants 
  becoming 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  dark 
  over 
  

   the 
  entire 
  plumage, 
  while 
  the 
  chestnut 
  appears 
  on 
  and 
  spreads 
  over 
  the 
  mantle. 
  Many 
  

   of 
  the 
  so-called 
  specimens 
  of 
  nipalensis 
  from 
  Jerulali, 
  western 
  Nepal 
  and 
  the 
  vicinity 
  are 
  

   indistinguishable 
  from 
  dark-mantled 
  macrolopha 
  from 
  Kumaon. 
  No 
  description 
  has 
  

   hitherto 
  been 
  given 
  of 
  the 
  extreme 
  nipalensis 
  type 
  ; 
  all 
  relate 
  to 
  intermediate 
  specimens. 
  

   But 
  even 
  in 
  this 
  extreme 
  there 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  single 
  character 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  found 
  in 
  all 
  

   conditions 
  of 
  gradation 
  between 
  the 
  Nepal 
  birds 
  and 
  the 
  palest 
  of 
  Garhwal 
  macrolopha. 
  

   Nipalensis 
  differs 
  from 
  the 
  castanea 
  off-shoot 
  in 
  combining 
  intense 
  melanism 
  with 
  

   increased 
  general 
  erythrism, 
  while 
  castanea 
  exhibits 
  the 
  latter 
  phenomenon 
  only 
  on 
  the 
  

   mantle 
  and 
  the 
  ventral 
  surface. 
  

  

  