﻿CAUCASIAN 
  PHEASANT 
  79 
  

  

  pheasants 
  and 
  partridges 
  secured 
  by 
  pot-hunters. 
  These 
  were 
  sent 
  northward 
  to 
  

   Russia 
  by 
  railroad. 
  As 
  many 
  as 
  eighteen 
  eggs 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  deposited 
  by 
  a 
  

   single 
  wild 
  hen 
  pheasant, 
  but 
  in 
  spite 
  even 
  of 
  the 
  usual 
  large 
  number 
  laid, 
  eight 
  to 
  

   twelve, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  but 
  that 
  the 
  bird 
  will 
  become 
  extinct 
  throughout 
  this 
  entire 
  

   region 
  before 
  many 
  years 
  have 
  passed. 
  

  

  Of 
  all 
  berries 
  the 
  so-called 
  Oblepicha 
  of 
  the 
  Russians, 
  which 
  are 
  of 
  such 
  importance 
  

   in 
  the 
  native 
  households, 
  are 
  the 
  favourites 
  of 
  the 
  pheasants. 
  They 
  also 
  feed 
  largely 
  on 
  

   blackberries 
  and 
  the 
  allied 
  Rubus 
  fruticosus 
  which 
  grow 
  in 
  the 
  jungle, 
  but 
  the 
  chief 
  

   article 
  of 
  diet 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  green 
  sprouts 
  and 
  soft 
  tips 
  of 
  grasses. 
  

  

  When 
  suitable 
  trees 
  are 
  available 
  the 
  pheasants 
  roost 
  high, 
  the 
  cock 
  flying 
  up 
  first 
  

   and 
  the 
  female 
  following, 
  the 
  trees 
  with 
  the 
  thickest 
  foliage, 
  and 
  preferably 
  those 
  growing 
  

   in 
  a 
  dense 
  grove, 
  being 
  chosen. 
  They 
  are 
  easily 
  approached 
  when 
  roosting, 
  but 
  one's 
  

   face 
  must 
  be 
  hidden 
  as 
  one 
  approaches. 
  These 
  pheasants 
  are 
  both 
  monogamous 
  and 
  

   polygamous 
  in 
  a 
  wild 
  state, 
  but 
  the 
  latter 
  seems 
  the 
  more 
  usual 
  condition. 
  Two 
  or 
  

   three 
  hens 
  are 
  frequently 
  seen 
  associated 
  with 
  a 
  single 
  cock 
  pheasant, 
  the 
  same 
  ratio 
  as 
  

   obtains 
  among 
  the 
  red-legged 
  partridges. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  pairing 
  time 
  the 
  cock 
  is 
  exceedingly 
  stupid. 
  He 
  can 
  be 
  deceived 
  by 
  a 
  

   common 
  barnyard 
  hen, 
  and 
  can 
  even 
  be 
  caught 
  alive. 
  The 
  hunters 
  of 
  Lenkoran 
  practice 
  

   the 
  following 
  method 
  : 
  at 
  the 
  mating 
  season 
  in 
  early 
  May 
  a 
  domestic 
  hen 
  is 
  taken 
  out 
  

   with 
  the 
  hunters, 
  preferably 
  to 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  a 
  woodland 
  which 
  contains 
  challenging 
  and 
  

   pairing 
  pheasants. 
  To 
  prevent 
  the 
  poor 
  hen 
  from 
  seeing 
  or 
  attempting 
  to 
  escape, 
  her 
  

   eyelids 
  are 
  stitched 
  together. 
  She 
  is 
  then 
  placed 
  before 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  blind, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  

   great 
  trunk 
  of 
  some 
  fallen 
  tree 
  or 
  a 
  dense 
  shrub 
  behind 
  which 
  the 
  man 
  conceals 
  himself. 
  

   The 
  frightened 
  hen 
  remains 
  sitting 
  until 
  prodded 
  with 
  a 
  stick, 
  when 
  she 
  flaps 
  her 
  wings. 
  

   The 
  nearest 
  pheasant 
  cock 
  hears 
  this 
  sound 
  and 
  at 
  once 
  approaches, 
  uttering 
  from 
  time 
  

   to 
  time 
  his 
  sonorous 
  di- 
  or 
  tri-syllabic 
  crow. 
  Again 
  she 
  is 
  made 
  to 
  flutter, 
  and 
  soon 
  the 
  

   wild 
  cock 
  appears 
  from 
  the 
  neighbouring 
  brush 
  within 
  easy 
  range. 
  The 
  alarm 
  caused 
  

   by 
  the 
  sound 
  of 
  the 
  gun 
  soon 
  passes, 
  and 
  the 
  experiment 
  may 
  be 
  successfully 
  

   repeated 
  a 
  short 
  distance 
  away. 
  When, 
  in 
  the 
  spring, 
  the 
  natives 
  desert 
  the 
  lowland 
  

   valleys 
  for 
  the 
  elevated 
  pastures 
  of 
  the 
  mountains, 
  the 
  pheasants 
  resort 
  to 
  the 
  ash-heaps 
  

   to 
  enjoy 
  dust 
  baths. 
  At 
  such 
  places 
  wheat 
  is 
  scattered 
  about 
  as 
  an 
  added 
  inducement 
  

   in 
  order 
  to 
  tempt 
  them 
  to 
  come 
  regularly 
  and 
  in 
  numbers, 
  and 
  on 
  a 
  favourable 
  

   opportunity 
  a 
  wholesale 
  slaughter 
  may 
  be 
  made 
  with 
  a 
  single 
  discharge 
  of 
  shot. 
  

  

  SYNONYMY 
  

  

  The 
  Pheasant 
  Albin, 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  Birds, 
  I. 
  1738, 
  p. 
  14, 
  pis. 
  25, 
  26 
  ; 
  Selby, 
  Brit. 
  Orn., 
  I. 
  1833, 
  pt. 
  II. 
  pi. 
  57. 
  

  

  La 
  Faisan 
  Brisson, 
  Orn. 
  I. 
  1760, 
  p. 
  262; 
  D'Aubenton, 
  PI. 
  Ehl. 
  pis. 
  121, 
  122; 
  Buffon, 
  Hist. 
  Nat. 
  Ois., 
  II. 
  

   1771, 
  p. 
  328, 
  pi. 
  xi. 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colckicus 
  Linnaeus, 
  Systema 
  Naturae, 
  1758, 
  p. 
  158 
  [habitat] 
  in 
  Africa, 
  Asia 
  ; 
  Linnaeus 
  Systema 
  

   Naturae, 
  1766, 
  I. 
  p. 
  271 
  ; 
  Gmelin, 
  Nov. 
  Comm. 
  Ac. 
  Petr., 
  1771, 
  XV. 
  p. 
  451 
  ; 
  Gm. 
  Sys. 
  Nat., 
  1788, 
  I. 
  pt. 
  II. 
  p. 
  741 
  ; 
  

   Lath., 
  Ind. 
  Orn., 
  II. 
  1790, 
  p. 
  629 
  ; 
  Bonnat, 
  Tabl. 
  Encycl. 
  Meth., 
  I. 
  1791, 
  p. 
  183, 
  pi. 
  87, 
  fig. 
  4; 
  Meyer 
  and 
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   Tasch. 
  der 
  deutsch. 
  Vog., 
  I. 
  1810, 
  p. 
  291, 
  pi. 
  ; 
  Pall, 
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  II. 
  181 
  1, 
  p. 
  83 
  ; 
  Temm., 
  Pig. 
  et 
  Gall., 
  

   II. 
  1813/p. 
  289 
  ; 
  Temm., 
  Pig. 
  et 
  Gall., 
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  1815, 
  p. 
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  Temm., 
  Man. 
  d'Orn., 
  1815, 
  p. 
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  ; 
  Vieill., 
  N. 
  Diet. 
  d'Hist. 
  

   Nat, 
  XI. 
  1817, 
  p. 
  29; 
  Steph., 
  in 
  Shaw's 
  Gen. 
  Zool., 
  XI. 
  1819, 
  p. 
  222, 
  pi. 
  13 
  (hybrid); 
  Temm., 
  Man. 
  d'Orn., 
  II. 
  

   1820, 
  p. 
  453 
  ; 
  Roux, 
  Orn. 
  Prov., 
  1825, 
  p. 
  47, 
  pis. 
  262, 
  263 
  ; 
  Vieill., 
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  Franc., 
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  p. 
  247, 
  pi. 
  107, 
  figs. 
  1 
  and 
  2 
  ; 
  

   Werner, 
  Atl. 
  Ois. 
  d'Eur., 
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  10, 
  1828, 
  pis. 
  I. 
  and 
  II.; 
  Cuvier, 
  Reg. 
  Anim., 
  I. 
  1829, 
  p. 
  477; 
  Griff., 
  ed. 
  Cuv., 
  III. 
  

   1829, 
  p. 
  22 
  ; 
  Less., 
  Traits 
  d'Orn., 
  1831, 
  p. 
  495 
  ; 
  Montagu, 
  Orn. 
  Diet., 
  ed. 
  2, 
  1831, 
  p. 
  367 
  ; 
  Men^tr., 
  Cat. 
  Rais., 
  1832, 
  

   p. 
  46 
  [Caucasus]; 
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  111. 
  Brit. 
  Orn., 
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  p. 
  417, 
  pi. 
  LVILj 
  Naum., 
  Nat. 
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  p. 
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  ; 
  

   pi. 
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  Schinz, 
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  pi. 
  95; 
  Macgill, 
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