﻿4 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  The 
  Koklass 
  Pheasants 
  seem 
  to 
  present 
  many 
  difficult 
  problems. 
  The 
  intricate 
  

   colours 
  and 
  patterns 
  of 
  their 
  plumage, 
  the 
  considerable 
  variation 
  and 
  the 
  wide 
  and 
  

   irregular 
  distribution, 
  all 
  make 
  toward 
  confusion 
  at 
  first 
  thought. 
  In 
  reality, 
  however, 
  

   when 
  we 
  eliminate 
  the 
  useless 
  characters 
  and 
  right 
  the 
  errors 
  due 
  to 
  hasty 
  species 
  

   diagnosis, 
  the 
  genus 
  proves 
  to 
  be 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  interesting 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  Phasianinae. 
  

   Its 
  various 
  forms 
  reveal 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  rarest 
  phenomena 
  in 
  nature 
  — 
  a 
  widespread 
  series, 
  

   showing 
  delicately 
  graduated 
  and 
  increasing 
  complexity 
  within 
  a 
  single, 
  closely 
  related 
  

   group 
  of 
  living 
  creatures. 
  There 
  seems 
  no 
  room 
  for 
  doubt 
  but 
  that 
  we 
  can 
  trace 
  almost 
  

   the 
  exact 
  route 
  which 
  these 
  birds 
  have 
  taken 
  in 
  past 
  time, 
  starting 
  in 
  Garhwal 
  in 
  the 
  

   western 
  Himalayas, 
  and 
  after 
  a 
  long 
  trek 
  northward, 
  eastward 
  and 
  southward, 
  reaching 
  

   the 
  sea-coast 
  in 
  south-eastern 
  China. 
  

  

  I 
  recognize 
  the 
  following 
  three 
  species, 
  comprising 
  ten 
  subspecies 
  of 
  Koklass 
  

   Pheasants. 
  

  

  Common 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  Pucrasia 
  macrolopha 
  macrolopha 
  (Lesson). 
  

  

  Kashmir 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  Pucrasia 
  macrolopha 
  biddulphi 
  Marshall. 
  

  

  Western 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  Pucrasia 
  macrolopha 
  castanea 
  Gould. 
  

  

  Nepal 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  Pucrasia 
  macrolopha 
  nipalensis 
  Gould. 
  

  

  Yellow-necked 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  .... 
  Pucrasia 
  xanthospila 
  xanthospila 
  Gray. 
  

  

  Orange-collared 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  Pucrasia 
  xanthospila 
  ruficollis 
  David 
  and 
  Oustalet. 
  

  

  Meyer's 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  Pucrasia 
  xanthospila 
  meyeri 
  Madarasz. 
  

  

  Joret's 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  Pucrasia 
  xanthospila 
  joretiana 
  Heude. 
  

  

  Darwin's 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  Pucrasia 
  darwini 
  darwini 
  Swinhoe. 
  

  

  Styan's 
  Koklass 
  Pheasant 
  Pucrasia 
  darwini 
  styani 
  Grant. 
  

  

  The 
  character 
  which 
  seems 
  of 
  greatest 
  convenience 
  in 
  the 
  definition 
  of 
  full 
  species 
  

   in 
  the 
  genus 
  Pucrasia 
  is 
  the 
  mantle 
  pattern, 
  with 
  its 
  increasing 
  complexity 
  (extending 
  

   also 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  plumage) 
  in 
  the 
  males. 
  In 
  macrolopha, 
  xanthospila 
  and 
  

   darwini 
  this 
  pattern 
  may 
  correctly 
  be 
  described 
  as 
  single, 
  double 
  and 
  quadruple 
  

   respectively. 
  In 
  macrolopha 
  the 
  mantle 
  feathers 
  are 
  cold, 
  ashy 
  grey, 
  with 
  a 
  wide 
  black 
  

   shaft-stripe 
  extending 
  almost 
  to 
  the 
  tip. 
  Careful 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  feathers 
  

   reveals 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  a 
  white 
  wedge 
  has 
  been 
  driven 
  some 
  distance 
  up 
  the 
  shaft, 
  but 
  

   this 
  anlage 
  of 
  a 
  splitting 
  of 
  the 
  black 
  stripe 
  is 
  not 
  visible 
  when 
  the 
  feathers 
  are 
  in 
  

   place. 
  

  

  In 
  xanthospila 
  and 
  its 
  congeners 
  the 
  central 
  wedge 
  of 
  light 
  colour 
  has 
  spread 
  up 
  

   the 
  entire 
  vane, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  lines 
  of 
  black 
  instead 
  of 
  one. 
  

  

  In 
  darwini 
  the 
  third 
  and 
  most 
  complex 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  pattern 
  is 
  found. 
  Two 
  

   additional 
  lateral 
  white 
  wedges 
  have 
  appeared, 
  splitting 
  the 
  two 
  longitudinal 
  black 
  

   lines 
  into 
  four 
  — 
  the 
  quadruple 
  pattern. 
  Thus 
  the 
  apparent 
  development 
  and 
  route 
  of 
  

   geographical 
  distribution 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  from 
  macrolopha, 
  through 
  xanthospila 
  to 
  

   darwini. 
  

  

  The 
  colour 
  of 
  the 
  outer 
  tail-feathers 
  is 
  unsatisfactory 
  as 
  a 
  diagnostic 
  character, 
  

   although 
  it 
  is 
  as 
  strongly 
  marked 
  in 
  the 
  females 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  males. 
  While 
  showing 
  

   great 
  variation 
  in 
  the 
  different 
  species 
  of 
  Pucrasia, 
  these 
  rectrices 
  also 
  present 
  

   equally 
  wide 
  extremes 
  of 
  colour 
  and 
  pattern 
  within 
  subspecific 
  bounds, 
  as 
  in 
  

   macrolopha 
  and 
  castanea, 
  where 
  the 
  dominant 
  colour 
  is 
  rufous 
  and 
  dark 
  brown 
  

   respectively. 
  

  

  