﻿x 
  LIST 
  OF 
  COLOURED 
  PLATES 
  

  

  Plate 
  LXI. 
  REEVES'S 
  PHEASANT 
  Syrmaticus 
  reevesi 
  (Gray) 
  . 
  . 
  Facingpage 
  146 
  

  

  Painted 
  by 
  C. 
  R. 
  Knight. 
  

  

  Many 
  years 
  before 
  it 
  was 
  seen 
  alive 
  this 
  gorgeous, 
  long-tailed 
  pheasant 
  was 
  known 
  from 
  

   Chinese 
  paintings, 
  and 
  was 
  thought 
  to 
  be 
  as 
  unreal 
  as 
  the 
  phoenix 
  or 
  dragon. 
  Marco 
  Polo 
  

   was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  describe 
  the 
  bird 
  in 
  life. 
  

  

  It 
  lives 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  heart 
  of 
  China 
  among 
  the 
  gnarled 
  oaks 
  and 
  pines, 
  and 
  nests 
  among 
  

   the 
  grass 
  and 
  azalea 
  bushes. 
  In 
  spite 
  of 
  the 
  long 
  tail, 
  sometimes 
  six 
  feet 
  long, 
  the 
  Reeves 
  is 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  swiftest 
  and 
  strongest 
  flyers 
  among 
  the 
  pheasants. 
  

  

  Plate 
  LXII. 
  PLUMAGES 
  OF 
  REEVES'S 
  AND 
  ELLIOT'S 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  Painted 
  by 
  H. 
  Gronvold. 
  Facingpage 
  1 
  54 
  

  

  Fig. 
  1. 
  Syrmaticus 
  ellioti 
  (Swinhoe), 
  Chick 
  in 
  down, 
  one 
  week 
  old. 
  

   Fig. 
  2. 
  Syrmaticus 
  ellioti 
  (Swinhoe), 
  Juvenile 
  plumage, 
  white-throated 
  phase, 
  two 
  and 
  a 
  

  

  half 
  months 
  old. 
  

   Fig. 
  3. 
  Syrmaticus 
  reevesi 
  (Gray), 
  Juvenile 
  plumage, 
  five 
  weeks 
  old. 
  

  

  Plate 
  LXIII. 
  SOEMMERRING'S 
  COPPER 
  PHEASANT 
  Syrmaticus 
  soemmerringi 
  

  

  soemmerringi 
  (Temminck) 
  ...... 
  Facingpage 
  158 
  

  

  Painted 
  by 
  E. 
  Megargee. 
  

  

  Like 
  the 
  architecture 
  of 
  the 
  Japanese, 
  the 
  solitary 
  majesty 
  of 
  Fuji, 
  the 
  beauty 
  of 
  the 
  

   cherry-blossoms, 
  the 
  delicacy 
  of 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  tori— 
  this 
  pheasant 
  seems 
  a 
  thing 
  of 
  unusual 
  beauty. 
  

   As 
  we 
  see 
  it 
  beside 
  a 
  stream, 
  or 
  silhouetted 
  against 
  the 
  misty 
  grey 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  snow- 
  

   covered 
  mountain, 
  it 
  fairly 
  glows 
  as 
  a 
  mass 
  of 
  purplish 
  carmine, 
  changing 
  at 
  every 
  turn 
  to 
  

   fiery 
  gold. 
  Its 
  vitality 
  is 
  tremendous, 
  and 
  when 
  a 
  half-dozen 
  cocks 
  bouquet 
  with 
  a 
  roar 
  of 
  

   wings 
  from 
  a 
  plot 
  of 
  dry 
  grass, 
  the 
  other 
  beauties 
  of 
  Nippon 
  are 
  eclipsed. 
  

  

  Plate 
  LXIV. 
  SCINTILLATING 
  COPPER 
  PHEASANT 
  Syrmaticus 
  soemmerringi 
  

  

  scintillans 
  (Gould) 
  

   (Left-hand 
  figure) 
  

  

  IJIMA'S 
  COPPER 
  PHEASANT 
  Syrmaticus 
  soemmerringi 
  ijimae 
  

   (Dresser) 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  Facingpage 
  162 
  

  

  (Right-hand 
  figure) 
  

   Painted 
  by 
  G. 
  E. 
  Lodge. 
  

  

  As 
  the 
  northern 
  Copper 
  Pheasants 
  are 
  seldom 
  out 
  of 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  cloud-swept 
  snows 
  of 
  

   Fuji, 
  so 
  the 
  southern 
  satin-backed 
  birds, 
  by 
  raising 
  their 
  heads, 
  can 
  always 
  watch 
  the 
  billowing 
  

   blue 
  smoke 
  from 
  the 
  waistcoat-pocket 
  crater 
  of 
  Kirishima-yama. 
  

  

  Foxes, 
  weasels 
  and 
  especially 
  half-wild 
  house 
  cats 
  are 
  among 
  the 
  enemies 
  which 
  force 
  

   these 
  birds 
  to 
  roost 
  in 
  trees. 
  In 
  spite 
  of 
  their 
  brilliancy 
  of 
  colouring, 
  Copper 
  Pheasants 
  are 
  

   able 
  to 
  keep 
  concealed, 
  and 
  a 
  pair 
  or 
  two 
  may 
  inhabit 
  a 
  tiny 
  grove 
  of 
  trees 
  or 
  shrubs 
  on 
  the 
  

   rocky 
  summit 
  of 
  a 
  hill, 
  and 
  remain 
  quite 
  unknown 
  to 
  the 
  Japanese 
  farmers 
  whose 
  fields 
  

   surround 
  them 
  on 
  every 
  side. 
  

  

  Plate 
  LXV. 
  HUME'S 
  BARRED-BACKED 
  PHEASANT 
  Syrmaticus 
  humiae 
  humiae 
  

  

  (Hume) 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  Facingpage 
  176 
  

  

  Painted 
  by 
  G. 
  E. 
  Lodge. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  hint 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  this 
  pheasant 
  — 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  Mikado 
  — 
  was 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  its 
  long, 
  purple-grey 
  tail-feathers 
  in 
  the 
  head-dress 
  of 
  honour 
  proudly 
  worn 
  by 
  a 
  

   native 
  chief. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  specimens 
  were 
  obtained 
  by 
  some 
  natives 
  going 
  into 
  enemy 
  territory 
  and 
  setting 
  

   traps 
  at 
  the 
  risk 
  of 
  their 
  lives. 
  They 
  are 
  not 
  rare, 
  but 
  live 
  in 
  dense 
  forests 
  in 
  the 
  neighbour- 
  

   hood 
  of 
  streams, 
  and 
  only 
  the 
  isolation 
  of 
  their 
  haunts 
  makes 
  their 
  habits 
  so 
  little 
  known. 
  

  

  