﻿CAUCASIAN 
  PHEASANT 
  77 
  

  

  occurrence 
  of 
  dense 
  deciduous 
  forests, 
  into 
  which 
  they 
  never 
  penetrate, 
  than 
  by 
  the 
  rather 
  

   slight 
  changes 
  in 
  altitude. 
  

  

  The 
  same 
  holds 
  true 
  of 
  the 
  Rion 
  district, 
  the 
  real 
  native 
  home 
  of 
  the 
  bird, 
  and 
  to 
  

   which 
  it 
  owes 
  its 
  name. 
  Here 
  in 
  natural 
  clearings 
  where 
  the 
  undergrowth 
  is 
  composed 
  

   of 
  dense 
  thickets 
  of 
  smilax 
  and 
  clematis 
  the 
  pheasant 
  finds 
  a 
  congenial 
  home. 
  The 
  

   unbroken 
  forests, 
  which 
  are 
  not 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  mountain 
  slopes, 
  are 
  avoided. 
  In 
  lower 
  

   reaches 
  of 
  the 
  Terek, 
  Sulak 
  and 
  Kuban 
  Rivers, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  along 
  the 
  littoral 
  zone 
  of 
  the 
  

   Caspian 
  Sea, 
  the 
  pheasant 
  becomes 
  a 
  dweller 
  among 
  reeds. 
  Under 
  similar 
  conditions 
  

   it 
  still 
  lingers 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  half 
  of 
  Astrakhan, 
  and 
  has 
  formerly 
  been 
  taken 
  several 
  times 
  

   to 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  city 
  itself. 
  

  

  The 
  pheasant 
  does 
  not 
  ascend 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  elevated 
  longitudinal 
  valleys, 
  most 
  

   of 
  which 
  are 
  blocked 
  by 
  steep 
  limestone 
  hills, 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  upper 
  Rion 
  valley, 
  with 
  many 
  

   suitable 
  places 
  less 
  than 
  twenty-four 
  hundred 
  feet 
  elevation, 
  is 
  wholly 
  deserted 
  by 
  these 
  

   birds. 
  In 
  the 
  southerly 
  cross-valleys 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  Caucasus 
  the 
  bird 
  is 
  rare 
  above 
  Gori 
  

   in 
  the 
  Liachwa 
  Plains, 
  but 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Ksanka. 
  A 
  half-century 
  

   ago 
  it 
  was 
  fairly 
  common 
  on 
  the 
  Suram 
  Plains, 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  many 
  swift-flowing 
  

   brooks, 
  but 
  since 
  then 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  completely 
  exterminated. 
  The 
  same 
  holds 
  true 
  for 
  

   the 
  Rion 
  and 
  Quirila 
  districts 
  above 
  Kutais. 
  Formerly 
  they 
  were 
  so 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  

   Scharopan 
  region 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  killed 
  by 
  the 
  natives 
  with 
  sticks 
  ; 
  now 
  they 
  have 
  

   vanished. 
  In 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Aragwa 
  they 
  occur 
  on 
  the 
  estate 
  of 
  Prince 
  Muchrausky, 
  

   where 
  they 
  are 
  strictly 
  protected 
  ; 
  along 
  the 
  lower 
  Jaral 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  quite 
  extend 
  to 
  the 
  

   plains 
  of 
  Tionet 
  ; 
  they 
  follow 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  Alsanan 
  almost 
  to 
  its 
  origin 
  at 
  

   the 
  Narrow 
  Ravine. 
  The 
  Tiflis 
  bazaar-pheasants 
  come 
  chiefly 
  from 
  Kacheten 
  and 
  

   Elizabethpol. 
  Down 
  the 
  Kura 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  wherever 
  jungle-like 
  vegetation 
  and 
  

   Tartar 
  gardens 
  thrive 
  near 
  water, 
  but 
  they 
  prefer 
  the 
  islets 
  in 
  the 
  river. 
  

  

  In 
  ascending 
  the 
  mountains, 
  going 
  from 
  Achsu 
  to 
  Schemacha, 
  pheasants 
  are 
  

   constantly 
  encountered 
  associated 
  with 
  red-legged 
  partridges. 
  These 
  heights 
  are 
  partly 
  

   covered 
  with 
  brushwood, 
  partly 
  under 
  cultivation 
  and 
  support 
  a 
  luxuriant 
  flora. 
  To 
  

   the 
  south 
  the 
  land 
  has 
  been 
  cleared, 
  and 
  this, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  water 
  in 
  the 
  adjoining 
  

   valleys, 
  affords 
  a 
  very 
  favourable 
  home 
  for 
  the 
  pheasants. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Araxes 
  Valley 
  they 
  are 
  first 
  encountered 
  eastward 
  of 
  the 
  gap 
  in 
  the 
  

   Karabagher 
  Mountains. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  record 
  of 
  them 
  higher 
  up 
  than 
  this. 
  In 
  these 
  

   regions 
  they 
  avoid 
  the 
  arid 
  steppes, 
  the 
  waterless 
  stretches 
  of 
  desert 
  and 
  the 
  dense 
  

   forests. 
  Their 
  distribution 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  Caspian 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Araxes 
  Valley 
  

   is 
  sporadic, 
  and 
  where 
  found 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  only 
  at 
  the 
  edges 
  of 
  the 
  sterile 
  steppes, 
  

   among 
  the 
  reeds 
  in 
  the 
  proximity 
  of 
  the 
  sluggish, 
  half-stagnant 
  streams. 
  

  

  While 
  they 
  occur 
  in 
  greater 
  or 
  less 
  abundance 
  in 
  the 
  lowlands 
  of 
  Talysch, 
  and 
  to 
  

   the 
  northward 
  over 
  Kumbaschinsk 
  and 
  the 
  southerly 
  border 
  of 
  Mugan, 
  they 
  are 
  entirely 
  

   absent 
  toward 
  the 
  north 
  in 
  the 
  bare, 
  hot 
  and 
  partly 
  waterless 
  littoral 
  zone 
  of 
  the 
  

   Caspian 
  shore. 
  They 
  are 
  also 
  absent 
  from 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Baku 
  and 
  the 
  peninsula 
  of 
  

   Apscheron. 
  At 
  Lenkoran 
  the 
  hunters 
  have 
  almost 
  exterminated 
  the 
  birds, 
  which 
  are 
  

   valued 
  up 
  to 
  one 
  ruble. 
  In 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Kubas 
  and 
  Derbent 
  the 
  pheasant 
  is 
  

   abundant, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  lowlands 
  of 
  the 
  Sulak 
  and 
  the 
  Terek, 
  where 
  again 
  it 
  is 
  an 
  

   inhabitant 
  of 
  extensive 
  patches 
  of 
  reeds, 
  it 
  is 
  common. 
  On 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Sari, 
  south 
  

   of 
  Kysyl-agatsch-Busen, 
  in 
  the 
  Caspian, 
  pheasants 
  were 
  introduced 
  many 
  years 
  ago 
  by 
  

  

  