﻿TRUE 
  PHEASANTS 
  71 
  

  

  absolutely 
  indistinguishable 
  from 
  the 
  wild 
  form 
  known 
  as 
  satscheuensis. 
  Now 
  colchicus 
  

   hails 
  originally 
  from 
  the 
  region 
  between 
  the 
  Black 
  and 
  the 
  Caspian 
  Seas 
  ; 
  torquatus 
  is 
  

   a 
  native 
  of 
  extreme 
  south-eastern 
  China, 
  versicolor 
  inhabits 
  Japan, 
  and 
  fiallasi 
  dwells 
  in 
  

   northern 
  and 
  central 
  Manchuria. 
  From 
  these 
  extreme 
  east, 
  west 
  and 
  northern 
  types 
  

   the 
  farthest 
  removed, 
  living 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  heart 
  of 
  Central 
  China 
  is 
  satcheuensis. 
  Q.E.D. 
  

  

  After 
  taking 
  into 
  consideration 
  scores 
  of 
  facts 
  like 
  those 
  I 
  have 
  detailed, 
  I 
  have, 
  

   without 
  hesitation, 
  arrived 
  at 
  the 
  conclusion 
  already 
  suggested 
  by 
  Lord 
  Rothschild, 
  and 
  

   in 
  still 
  greater 
  detail 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Ernst 
  Hartert 
  (" 
  Novitates 
  Zoologicae," 
  XXIV, 
  1917, 
  

   p. 
  449). 
  This 
  is 
  to 
  accept 
  the 
  name 
  bestowed 
  by 
  Linnaeus, 
  Phasianus 
  colchicits, 
  and 
  to 
  

   consider 
  every 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  continental 
  forms 
  of 
  Pkasiamts 
  as 
  subspecies 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  

   species. 
  I 
  even 
  include 
  the 
  bird 
  of 
  Formosa, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  its 
  variability, 
  as 
  I 
  

   have 
  seen 
  individuals 
  taken 
  on 
  that 
  island 
  which 
  differed 
  very 
  appreciably 
  from 
  one 
  

   another. 
  P. 
  versicolor, 
  in 
  Japan, 
  without 
  question 
  stands 
  the 
  test 
  of 
  a 
  good 
  species, 
  

   both 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  radical 
  difference 
  in 
  pattern 
  and 
  colour, 
  and 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  

   remarkable 
  lack 
  of 
  individual 
  variation. 
  

  

  I 
  could 
  very 
  easily 
  add 
  a 
  dozen 
  new 
  names 
  to 
  the 
  thirty 
  odd 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  

   proposed. 
  It 
  would 
  seem, 
  indeed, 
  more 
  logical 
  to 
  call 
  these 
  forms 
  variations 
  or 
  

   geographic 
  races, 
  while 
  in 
  some 
  cases 
  they 
  are 
  most 
  certainly 
  nothing 
  more 
  than 
  

   hybrids. 
  But 
  in 
  the 
  interest 
  of 
  simplicity 
  and 
  uniformity 
  I 
  see 
  no 
  need 
  of 
  indicating 
  

   them 
  as 
  other 
  than 
  subspecies. 
  The 
  most 
  important 
  thing 
  in 
  a 
  case 
  such 
  as 
  this, 
  is 
  to 
  

   realize 
  that 
  the 
  name 
  colchicits 
  colchicus, 
  as 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  most 
  western 
  Caspian 
  bird, 
  

   indicates 
  only 
  the 
  adoption 
  of 
  the 
  priority 
  term 
  given 
  by 
  Linnaeus, 
  and 
  means 
  nothing 
  

   whatsoever 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  ancestry 
  or 
  typical 
  characters. 
  P. 
  colchicus 
  hagenbecki, 
  of 
  

   doubtful 
  distribution, 
  deep 
  in 
  the 
  heart 
  of 
  northern 
  Mongolia, 
  may 
  just 
  as 
  well 
  represent 
  

   the 
  original 
  centre 
  of 
  evolution 
  of 
  the 
  genus, 
  while 
  colchicus 
  elegans, 
  far 
  south 
  within 
  

   Burmese 
  boundaries, 
  may, 
  for 
  aught 
  we 
  know, 
  most 
  nearly 
  typify 
  ancestral 
  colouring 
  

   and 
  pattern. 
  A 
  given 
  name, 
  like 
  the 
  disappearance 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  beneath 
  the 
  horizon, 
  may 
  

   result 
  in 
  an 
  absolutely 
  false 
  habit 
  of 
  thought. 
  

  

  The 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  wild 
  members 
  of 
  this 
  group 
  extends 
  quite 
  across 
  the 
  

   continent 
  of 
  Asia 
  at 
  its 
  widest 
  part, 
  from 
  the 
  Sea 
  of 
  Azof 
  and 
  the 
  Black 
  Sea 
  on 
  the 
  

   west, 
  to 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Japan 
  Sea, 
  almost 
  five 
  thousand 
  miles 
  distant. 
  In 
  Manchuria 
  

   pheasants 
  reach 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  48 
  N. 
  Lat., 
  while 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  forms 
  extend 
  southward 
  

   across 
  the 
  Tropic 
  of 
  Cancer. 
  

  

  Throughout 
  much 
  of 
  this 
  area 
  the 
  birds 
  have 
  spread 
  into 
  every 
  available 
  valley 
  or 
  

   along 
  the 
  mountain 
  slopes, 
  sweeping 
  through 
  passes 
  and 
  adapting 
  themselves 
  to 
  semi- 
  

   arid 
  deserts. 
  They 
  are 
  at 
  home 
  among 
  the 
  bleak 
  boulders 
  and 
  bitter 
  winds 
  of 
  Mongolia 
  

   and 
  Turkestan, 
  the 
  temperate 
  uplands 
  of 
  Burma, 
  and 
  the 
  flat 
  rice-fields 
  of 
  Eastern 
  

   China. 
  

  

  In 
  some 
  districts 
  they 
  are 
  very 
  rare, 
  a 
  single 
  pair 
  of 
  birds 
  seeming 
  to 
  have 
  whole 
  

   mountain-sides 
  to 
  themselves, 
  while 
  in 
  the 
  Yangtse 
  valley 
  five 
  hundred 
  pheasants 
  may 
  

   sometimes 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  a 
  day's 
  ride. 
  They 
  are 
  essentially 
  gregarious, 
  and 
  ■ 
  

   prefer 
  to 
  feed 
  and 
  roost 
  in 
  company. 
  The 
  broken 
  crow 
  of 
  the 
  cock 
  pheasant 
  is 
  common 
  

   to 
  every 
  continent, 
  and 
  whether 
  ringing 
  out 
  among 
  the 
  bamboos 
  of 
  Yunnan, 
  the 
  oaks 
  of 
  

   English 
  uplands, 
  or 
  the 
  maple 
  groves 
  of 
  American 
  countrysides 
  — 
  it 
  is 
  identical 
  and 
  

   unmistakable. 
  

  

  