﻿ioo 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  wherever 
  there 
  were 
  berries, 
  in 
  fact. 
  The 
  runners 
  proved 
  a 
  nuisance, 
  but 
  several 
  were 
  

   saved 
  by 
  my 
  dog, 
  who 
  was, 
  however, 
  more 
  addicted 
  to 
  fur 
  than 
  feather, 
  for 
  he 
  was 
  of 
  

   the 
  breed 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  Siberian 
  fur-hunters, 
  and 
  had 
  been 
  trained 
  to 
  run 
  sable 
  and 
  to 
  

   "tree" 
  squirrels. 
  He 
  was 
  quite 
  out 
  of 
  place 
  at 
  a 
  pheasant 
  shoot, 
  and 
  preferred 
  the 
  

   chasing 
  of 
  innumerable 
  hares, 
  which 
  literally 
  swarmed 
  in 
  this 
  region. 
  When 
  my 
  good 
  

   cartridges 
  began 
  to 
  run 
  out, 
  I 
  used 
  to 
  put 
  an 
  English 
  cartridge 
  into 
  one 
  barrel 
  and 
  a 
  

   Russian 
  into 
  the 
  other, 
  with 
  most 
  pleasing 
  results 
  to 
  the 
  bird 
  at 
  which 
  the 
  Russian 
  was 
  

   fired. 
  The 
  comparison 
  was 
  so 
  marked 
  that 
  my 
  native 
  soon 
  saw 
  the 
  joke 
  of 
  it, 
  and 
  

   when 
  a 
  bird 
  passed 
  away 
  untouched, 
  to 
  the 
  resounding 
  bang 
  of 
  a 
  smoky 
  Russian, 
  he 
  

   would 
  cry 
  out 
  ' 
  Ruski,' 
  whilst 
  ' 
  Inglis 
  ' 
  was 
  his 
  echo 
  to 
  the 
  sharp, 
  clean 
  sound 
  of 
  a 
  

   smokeless 
  Schultze 
  and 
  a 
  crumpled 
  bird 
  falling 
  to 
  earth. 
  

  

  "I 
  finished 
  my 
  supply 
  of 
  ammunition 
  and 
  returned 
  to 
  my 
  quarters 
  in 
  the 
  native 
  

   house. 
  Here 
  I 
  laid 
  out 
  the 
  bag, 
  and 
  found 
  that 
  I 
  had 
  shot 
  forty-one 
  birds, 
  and 
  that 
  

   the 
  proportion 
  of 
  males 
  to 
  females 
  was 
  twenty-seven 
  to 
  fourteen. 
  This 
  was 
  remarkable, 
  

   for 
  although 
  I 
  actually 
  needed 
  more 
  cocks 
  than 
  hens, 
  yet 
  I 
  had 
  not 
  taken 
  the 
  least 
  

   trouble 
  to 
  get 
  them. 
  In 
  fact, 
  I 
  am 
  sure 
  that 
  I 
  put 
  up 
  more 
  cock 
  birds 
  than 
  hens. 
  In 
  

   one 
  locality 
  alone 
  I 
  remember 
  finding 
  a 
  very 
  great 
  majority 
  of 
  hen 
  birds, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  

   possible 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  their 
  haunts 
  perhaps 
  on 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  inaccessible 
  islands, 
  where 
  

   food 
  is 
  plentiful 
  and 
  enemies 
  scarce. 
  The 
  next 
  day 
  I 
  packed 
  a 
  horse 
  with 
  a 
  couple 
  

   of 
  sacks 
  containing 
  the 
  birds, 
  and, 
  crossing 
  the 
  Kash 
  by 
  a 
  narrow 
  ice 
  bridge, 
  under 
  

   which 
  the 
  torrent 
  wound 
  threateningly, 
  rode 
  back 
  to 
  Kuldja 
  in 
  fourteen 
  hours. 
  

  

  "The 
  possibilities 
  of 
  pheasant 
  shooting 
  on 
  the 
  Kash 
  are 
  very 
  great. 
  Two 
  guns 
  

   would 
  increase 
  the 
  bag 
  to 
  far 
  more 
  than 
  double, 
  and 
  if 
  a 
  few 
  beaters 
  could 
  be 
  hired, 
  

   and 
  a 
  man 
  with 
  a 
  pony 
  engaged 
  to 
  carry 
  the 
  spoil, 
  shooting 
  would 
  become 
  more 
  of 
  a 
  

   pleasure 
  and 
  less 
  of 
  a 
  labour. 
  The 
  birds 
  are 
  certainly 
  numerous, 
  and 
  not 
  likely 
  to 
  

   diminish 
  in 
  numbers. 
  They 
  have 
  endless 
  territory, 
  the 
  natives 
  scarcely 
  hunt 
  them 
  at 
  

   all, 
  and 
  never 
  sufficiently 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  least 
  impression 
  on 
  their 
  numbers, 
  whilst 
  there 
  

   are 
  but 
  few 
  enemies 
  in 
  the 
  shape 
  of 
  wild 
  cats 
  and 
  foxes. 
  In 
  spring 
  and 
  summer, 
  when 
  

   the 
  foliage 
  is 
  out, 
  it 
  is 
  scarcely 
  possible 
  to 
  find 
  or 
  to 
  put 
  them 
  up. 
  Thus 
  they 
  are 
  

   naturally 
  protected 
  during 
  the 
  breeding 
  season. 
  The 
  climate, 
  also, 
  is 
  so 
  even, 
  and 
  the 
  

   weather 
  so 
  constantly 
  true 
  to 
  itself, 
  that 
  little 
  or 
  no 
  damage 
  is 
  ever 
  done 
  to 
  young 
  

   birds. 
  The 
  Mongolian 
  pheasant 
  has, 
  in 
  fact, 
  everything 
  that 
  nature 
  means 
  it 
  to 
  have 
  

   and 
  none 
  of 
  those 
  artificial 
  benefits 
  which 
  attend 
  the 
  life 
  history 
  of 
  an 
  English-bred 
  

   bird." 
  

  

  SYNONYMY 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colchicus 
  Licht, 
  in 
  Eversm., 
  Reise. 
  nach 
  Buchara, 
  1823, 
  p. 
  133 
  (nee 
  Linne), 
  (Kuwan 
  and 
  Jan 
  

   Darjo) 
  ; 
  Meyend, 
  Voy. 
  a 
  Bokhara, 
  1826, 
  p. 
  428. 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  torquatus 
  Karelin, 
  Bull. 
  Soc. 
  Nat. 
  Mosc., 
  1841, 
  p. 
  561 
  (Tarbagatai), 
  (nee 
  Gmelin, 
  1788). 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  mongolicus 
  Brandt, 
  Bull. 
  Acad. 
  St. 
  Petersb., 
  III. 
  1844, 
  p. 
  51 
  (Altai); 
  Gould, 
  Birds 
  Asia, 
  VII. 
  1858, 
  

   pi. 
  XLI. 
  ; 
  Sclater, 
  List. 
  Phas., 
  1863, 
  p. 
  4; 
  Sclater, 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  London, 
  1863, 
  p. 
  116; 
  Gray, 
  List 
  Gall. 
  Brit. 
  Mus., 
  

   1867, 
  p; 
  27; 
  Gray, 
  Hand-list 
  Birds, 
  II. 
  1870, 
  p. 
  257; 
  Elliot, 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  London, 
  1870, 
  p. 
  408; 
  Elliot, 
  Mono. 
  

   Phas., 
  II. 
  1872, 
  pi. 
  IV. 
  (text); 
  Sewertzow, 
  Turkest. 
  Jevotn., 
  1873, 
  p. 
  68; 
  Sewertzow, 
  Bull. 
  Mosc, 
  XLVIII. 
  pt. 
  iii, 
  

   1875, 
  p. 
  208; 
  Sewertzow, 
  Jour, 
  fur 
  Orn., 
  1875, 
  p. 
  224; 
  Sewertzow, 
  Ibis, 
  1875, 
  p. 
  493 
  ; 
  Dresser, 
  Ibis, 
  1876, 
  p. 
  323 
  ; 
  

   Finsch, 
  Verh. 
  Ges. 
  Wien, 
  XXIX. 
  1880, 
  p. 
  241; 
  Bogdanow, 
  Consp. 
  Av. 
  Ross., 
  fasci. 
  I. 
  1884, 
  p. 
  20; 
  Seebohm, 
  

   Ibis, 
  1887, 
  p. 
  173 
  ; 
  Pleske, 
  Mem. 
  Ac. 
  St. 
  Petersb. 
  (7), 
  XXXVI. 
  1888, 
  No. 
  3, 
  P. 
  47 
  (Chinaz); 
  Alpheraky, 
  Kuldja 
  

   and 
  Tian-Shan 
  (Russ.), 
  1891, 
  pp. 
  5, 
  17, 
  19, 
  22, 
  29, 
  48, 
  89, 
  98, 
  153; 
  Kozlow, 
  Results 
  of 
  the 
  I.R.G.S. 
  Exped. 
  in 
  

   C. 
  Asia 
  in 
  1893-5, 
  II. 
  1899, 
  p. 
  5 
  ; 
  Grant, 
  Cat. 
  Birds 
  Brit. 
  Mus., 
  XXII. 
  1893, 
  p. 
  328; 
  Sharpe, 
  Hand-list 
  Birds 
  

  

  