﻿JORET'S 
  KOKLASS 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Pucrasia 
  xanthospila 
  joretiana 
  Heude 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  AND 
  DESCRIPTION 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  letter 
  dated 
  January 
  20, 
  1883, 
  sent 
  to 
  the 
  " 
  Ibis," 
  Pere 
  Heude 
  writes 
  : 
  " 
  Vous 
  

   serez 
  peut-£tre 
  content 
  d'apprendre 
  que 
  j'ai 
  un 
  nouveau 
  Pucrasia. 
  Je 
  une 
  propose 
  de 
  la 
  

   publier 
  sous 
  le 
  nom 
  de 
  P. 
  joretiana. 
  II 
  differe 
  des 
  Pucrasiae 
  decrits 
  en 
  ce 
  qu'il 
  n'a 
  pas 
  

   de 
  brun 
  ni 
  de 
  roux 
  dans 
  le 
  plumage, 
  soit 
  au 
  cou, 
  soit 
  aux 
  afles, 
  soit 
  aux 
  sous-caudales. 
  

   II 
  est 
  de 
  la 
  taille 
  du 
  P. 
  xanthospila." 
  

  

  No 
  further 
  mention, 
  however, 
  was 
  made 
  of 
  this 
  pheasant 
  until 
  thirty 
  years 
  later, 
  

   when 
  the 
  bird 
  was 
  figured 
  in 
  the 
  " 
  Ibis 
  " 
  with 
  a 
  rdsumd 
  of 
  its 
  characters. 
  

  

  It 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  closely 
  related 
  offshoot 
  of 
  the 
  Yellow-necked 
  Koklass 
  with 
  strong 
  

   leanings 
  in 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  Darwin's 
  Koklass 
  ; 
  exactly 
  what 
  we 
  should 
  be 
  led 
  to 
  expect 
  

   from 
  its 
  geographical 
  position. 
  The 
  two 
  characters 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  departs 
  most 
  widely 
  

   from 
  xanthospila 
  are 
  the 
  shortness 
  of 
  the 
  crest 
  and 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  the 
  yellow 
  nuchal 
  

   zone. 
  Both 
  of 
  these 
  characters, 
  however, 
  are 
  strongly 
  hinted 
  at 
  in 
  xanthospila, 
  where 
  

   in 
  a 
  large 
  series 
  of 
  specimens 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  crest 
  of 
  greatly 
  varying 
  length 
  and 
  compactness, 
  

   and 
  the 
  yellow 
  cape 
  ranging 
  from 
  a 
  strong 
  bright 
  straw-yellow 
  area 
  to 
  a 
  few 
  faint 
  

   yellowish 
  streaks 
  on 
  the 
  upper 
  mantle. 
  In 
  joretiana 
  we 
  have 
  a 
  complete 
  vindication 
  of 
  

   the 
  assertion 
  that 
  the 
  posterior 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Koklass 
  crest 
  is 
  a 
  true 
  crest 
  and 
  not 
  

   " 
  feather 
  ears," 
  which 
  has 
  so 
  often 
  been 
  falsely 
  delineated 
  as 
  two 
  separate 
  erect 
  tufts. 
  

  

  The 
  differences 
  between 
  joretiana 
  and 
  darwini 
  are 
  much 
  more 
  apparent. 
  Most 
  

   important 
  is 
  the 
  double, 
  not 
  quadruple, 
  pattern 
  of 
  the 
  mantle 
  and 
  sides, 
  a 
  character 
  

   which, 
  in 
  the 
  classification 
  I 
  have 
  adopted, 
  throws 
  the 
  form 
  at 
  once 
  into 
  the 
  xanthospila 
  

   group. 
  The 
  ventral 
  chestnut 
  is 
  darker 
  and 
  richer 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  southern 
  Koklass, 
  

   while 
  the 
  under 
  tail-coverts 
  and 
  central 
  tail-feathers 
  have 
  no 
  wide 
  chestnut 
  margin, 
  but 
  

   are 
  wholly 
  black 
  and 
  white. 
  

  

  The 
  male 
  type 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  shows 
  the 
  following 
  measurements 
  : 
  

   wing, 
  225 
  mm. 
  ; 
  tail, 
  200 
  ; 
  tarsus, 
  70 
  ; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw, 
  68. 
  

  

  The 
  characters 
  of 
  this 
  form 
  of 
  Koklass 
  were 
  first 
  observed 
  by 
  the 
  Rev. 
  P. 
  Heude, 
  

   who 
  named 
  it 
  provisionally 
  after 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  missionary 
  colleagues, 
  the 
  Rev. 
  H. 
  Joret, 
  

   who 
  procured 
  the 
  first 
  specimen. 
  

  

  Joret's 
  Koklass 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  to 
  inhabit 
  the 
  mountainous 
  region 
  around 
  Hoshan, 
  

   in 
  the 
  western 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  province 
  of 
  Anhwei. 
  It 
  occurs 
  at 
  an 
  altitude 
  of 
  two 
  to 
  five 
  

   thousand 
  feet. 
  Thus 
  its 
  range 
  is 
  midway 
  between 
  xanthospila 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  

   darwini 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  southern 
  provinces. 
  

  

  SYNONYMY 
  

   Pucrasia 
  joretiana 
  Heude, 
  Ibis, 
  1883, 
  p. 
  225; 
  Sclater, 
  Bull. 
  Brit. 
  Orn. 
  Club., 
  XXXI. 
  1912, 
  p. 
  7; 
  Courtois, 
  

   Ibis, 
  191 
  3, 
  p. 
  14. 
  

  

  Pucrasia 
  xanthospila 
  joretiana 
  Beebe, 
  Zoologica, 
  I., 
  No. 
  15, 
  1914, 
  p. 
  278. 
  

  

  Pucrasia 
  darwini 
  joretiana 
  Baker, 
  Jour. 
  Bombay 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  Soc, 
  XXV. 
  1918, 
  p. 
  523. 
  

  

  40 
  

  

  