﻿PRINCE 
  OF 
  WALES'S 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colchicus 
  principalis 
  Sclater 
  

  

  NAMES. 
  — 
  English 
  : 
  Prince 
  of 
  Wales's, 
  Murghab 
  or 
  Tejend 
  Pheasant. 
  

  

  TYPE.— 
  Locality 
  : 
  Bala-Murghab, 
  Afghanistan. 
  Describer 
  : 
  Dr. 
  P. 
  L. 
  Sclater. 
  Place 
  of 
  Description 
  : 
  Proc. 
  

   Zool. 
  Soc. 
  London, 
  1885, 
  p. 
  322. 
  Present 
  Location 
  of 
  Type: 
  British 
  Museum. 
  

  

  Subspecific 
  CHARACTERS. 
  — 
  Male 
  : 
  Has 
  the 
  white 
  wing-coverts 
  of 
  persicus, 
  but 
  the 
  rump 
  is 
  bronze 
  red 
  and 
  

   the 
  lower 
  back, 
  rump 
  and 
  upper 
  tail-coverts 
  usually 
  lack 
  the 
  purple-lake 
  gloss 
  ; 
  the 
  breast 
  is 
  broadly 
  tipped 
  with 
  

   purplish-red 
  bronze, 
  and 
  the 
  flanks 
  with 
  dark 
  green 
  or 
  purplish 
  blue 
  ; 
  the 
  scapulars 
  are 
  widely 
  margined 
  with 
  

   black. 
  Female: 
  In 
  general 
  much 
  paler 
  than 
  the 
  females 
  of 
  c. 
  colchicus 
  and 
  c. 
  persicus, 
  the 
  ground 
  colour 
  of 
  the 
  

   mantle 
  paler 
  rufous, 
  and 
  the 
  general 
  colour 
  of 
  the 
  body 
  very 
  pale 
  sandy 
  buff. 
  It 
  is 
  very 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  female 
  of 
  

   chrysomelas. 
  The 
  birds 
  from 
  the 
  western 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  range 
  have 
  been 
  separated 
  by 
  Bogdanow 
  as 
  komarowi, 
  but 
  on 
  

   a 
  wholly 
  variable 
  and 
  unstable 
  character 
  : 
  the 
  greenish 
  instead 
  of 
  a 
  purplish 
  gloss 
  on 
  the 
  blackish 
  tips 
  of 
  the 
  flank 
  

   feathers. 
  The 
  individuals 
  upon 
  which 
  this 
  name 
  was 
  based 
  were 
  obtained 
  in 
  1883 
  by 
  the 
  Russian 
  traveller 
  

   Zarudny, 
  who 
  explored 
  the 
  Turcoman 
  country 
  while 
  it 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  political 
  uprisings. 
  His 
  notes 
  and 
  

   skins 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  Prof. 
  Bogdanow, 
  who 
  published 
  the 
  description 
  in 
  1886, 
  a 
  year 
  after 
  Dr. 
  Sclater 
  had 
  named 
  

   principalis. 
  

  

  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  North-eastern 
  Persia, 
  north-western 
  Afghanistan 
  and 
  southern 
  Turkestan, 
  

   including 
  the 
  Merv 
  Desert. 
  It 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  known 
  in 
  Turkestan 
  

   as 
  the 
  Tejend 
  and 
  in 
  Afghanistan 
  as 
  the 
  Heri 
  Rud. 
  It 
  also 
  ranges 
  along 
  the 
  lesser 
  

   streams 
  which 
  flow 
  from 
  the 
  eastern 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  Darah-Gaz, 
  Kalat-i-Nadir 
  and 
  other 
  

   Persian 
  Mountains 
  to 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  Tejend, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  Dushak, 
  Kaahka 
  and 
  Lutfabad. 
  

   On 
  the 
  Heri-Rud 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  Kafir-Kala, 
  but 
  has 
  been 
  exterminated 
  in 
  

   Ahal-Teke, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  reaches 
  only 
  to 
  Baba-Durmas, 
  about 
  seventy-five 
  kilometres 
  

   east 
  of 
  Askhabad. 
  It 
  occurs 
  in 
  the 
  Russian 
  and 
  Afghan 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  Murghab 
  

   Valley, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  oases 
  of 
  Mero, 
  Zelotan 
  and 
  Pandj-deh. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  bounded 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  by 
  Repetek 
  and 
  the 
  Kara-Kum 
  sands, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  

   and 
  south 
  by 
  the 
  watershed 
  of 
  the 
  Caspian 
  and 
  inland 
  basins. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  specimens 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  were 
  obtained 
  by 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  Afghan 
  Delimita- 
  

   tion 
  CoirAnission. 
  They 
  were 
  the 
  property 
  of 
  H.R.H. 
  the 
  Prince 
  of 
  Wales, 
  and 
  were 
  

   named 
  in 
  1885 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Sclater 
  and 
  exhibited 
  by 
  him 
  at 
  the 
  London 
  Zoological 
  Society. 
  

   Dr. 
  J. 
  E. 
  T. 
  Aitchison, 
  the 
  naturalist 
  of 
  the 
  commission, 
  writes 
  as 
  follows 
  of 
  this 
  form 
  : 
  

   " 
  The 
  specimens 
  of 
  this 
  pheasant 
  were 
  all 
  got 
  on 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Bala-Morghab, 
  where 
  

   it 
  occurs 
  in 
  considerable 
  numbers 
  in 
  the 
  tamarisk 
  and 
  grass 
  jungle 
  growing 
  in 
  the 
  bed 
  

   of 
  the 
  river. 
  More 
  than 
  four 
  hundred 
  were 
  killed 
  on 
  the 
  march 
  of 
  thirty 
  miles 
  up 
  this 
  

   river. 
  It 
  not 
  only 
  wades 
  through 
  the 
  water 
  in 
  trying 
  to 
  make 
  from 
  one 
  point 
  of 
  vantage 
  

   to 
  another, 
  but 
  swims, 
  and 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  quite 
  at 
  home 
  in 
  these 
  thickets, 
  where 
  there 
  is 
  

  

  