﻿YARKAND 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colchicus 
  shawi 
  Elliot 
  

  

  NAMES. 
  — 
  Subspecific 
  : 
  shawi, 
  named 
  for 
  Robert 
  Shaw, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  few 
  early 
  English 
  explorers 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  

   to 
  Yarkand 
  and 
  returned 
  alive. 
  English 
  : 
  Yarkand 
  or 
  Shaw's 
  Pheasant. 
  

  

  Type.— 
  Locality 
  : 
  Yarkand. 
  Describer 
  : 
  D. 
  G. 
  Elliot. 
  Place 
  of 
  Description 
  : 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  London, 
  1870, 
  

   P- 
  403- 
  

  

  SUBSPECIFIC 
  CHARACTERS. 
  — 
  Male: 
  The 
  lesser 
  and 
  median 
  wing-coverts 
  white 
  or 
  whitish-buff; 
  the 
  lower 
  

   back, 
  rump 
  and 
  upper 
  tail-coverts 
  are 
  orange 
  bronze 
  with 
  greenish 
  and 
  purplish 
  reflections 
  ; 
  the 
  feathers 
  of 
  the 
  

   lower 
  back 
  and 
  rump 
  have 
  a 
  green 
  spot 
  on 
  each 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  shaft 
  ; 
  the 
  upper 
  back 
  and 
  breast 
  edged 
  with 
  black, 
  

   often 
  glossed 
  with 
  green, 
  the 
  golden 
  ground-colour 
  dominating 
  the 
  black 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  ; 
  dark 
  bars 
  on 
  basal 
  half 
  of 
  

   middle 
  tail-feathers 
  usually 
  3 
  to 
  4 
  mm. 
  wide. 
  Female: 
  Very 
  pale; 
  ground-colour 
  of 
  mantle 
  pale 
  rufous-buff; 
  

   general 
  colour 
  of 
  remainder 
  of 
  plumage 
  light 
  buff. 
  

  

  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  The 
  Yarkand 
  Pheasant 
  has 
  a 
  wide 
  range 
  in 
  the 
  western 
  part 
  of 
  Chinese 
  Turkestan, 
  

   including 
  the 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Khotan-Daria, 
  Yarkand-Daria 
  and 
  the 
  Kashgar-Daria, 
  the 
  

   upper 
  reaches 
  of 
  the 
  Tarim 
  River 
  and 
  the 
  lower 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Aksu 
  Valley. 
  It 
  keeps 
  to 
  

   the 
  lower 
  slopes, 
  seldom 
  ranging 
  high 
  up 
  on 
  the 
  mountains. 
  The 
  caravan-road 
  from 
  

   Sanju 
  to 
  Kashgar 
  forms 
  its 
  south-western 
  boundary. 
  The 
  impassable, 
  snow-clad 
  chain 
  of 
  

   the 
  Tian-Shan 
  almost 
  shuts 
  off 
  the 
  Yarkand 
  Pheasant, 
  the 
  most 
  easterly 
  of 
  the 
  white- 
  

   winged 
  group, 
  from 
  its 
  northern 
  and 
  north-western 
  neighbours, 
  the 
  white-collared, 
  

   copper-throated, 
  silvery-grey-winged 
  mongolicus. 
  From 
  bianchii 
  on 
  the 
  upper 
  Oxus 
  it 
  

   is 
  separated 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  ranges 
  of 
  the 
  Pamirs 
  and 
  Alai. 
  Eastward 
  the 
  Yarkand 
  

   Pheasant 
  has 
  no 
  definite 
  physical 
  boundary 
  and 
  somewhere 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  middle 
  

   Tarim 
  meets 
  the 
  sandy-winged 
  tarimensis. 
  

  

  SYNONYMY 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  shawi 
  Elliot, 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  London, 
  1870, 
  p. 
  403 
  (Yarkand) 
  ; 
  Elliot, 
  Mono. 
  Phas., 
  II. 
  1872.pl. 
  I. 
  

   (text); 
  Scully, 
  Stray 
  Feathers, 
  III. 
  1875, 
  p. 
  433 
  ; 
  Scully, 
  Stray 
  Feathers, 
  IV. 
  1876, 
  pp. 
  75, 
  80, 
  83, 
  179 
  (Kashgar, 
  

   Beshkent, 
  Yarkand); 
  Gould, 
  Birds 
  Asia, 
  VII. 
  1876, 
  pi. 
  XXXV.; 
  Seebohm, 
  Ibis, 
  1887, 
  p. 
  171 
  ; 
  Seebohm, 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  

   London, 
  p. 
  415 
  (Aksu 
  and 
  Khotan 
  Darya); 
  Sharp, 
  Sec. 
  Yark., 
  Miss. 
  Aves, 
  i8oi,p. 
  1 
  20 
  (Guma, 
  Yarkand, 
  Maralbashi) 
  ; 
  

   Grant, 
  Cat. 
  Birds 
  Brit. 
  Mus., 
  XXII. 
  1893, 
  p. 
  326 
  ; 
  Richmond, 
  Proc. 
  U.S. 
  Nat. 
  Mus., 
  XVIII. 
  1897, 
  p. 
  588 
  ; 
  Sharpe, 
  

   Hand-list 
  Birds, 
  Vol. 
  I. 
  1899, 
  p. 
  37 
  ; 
  Dresser, 
  Manual 
  Palae. 
  Birds, 
  II. 
  1903, 
  p. 
  660; 
  Buturlin, 
  Ibis, 
  1904, 
  p. 
  394 
  

   (Western 
  Chinese 
  Turkestan); 
  Buturlin, 
  Ibis, 
  1908, 
  pp. 
  585, 
  589. 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  insignis 
  Elliot, 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  London, 
  1870, 
  p. 
  404 
  (Yarkand); 
  Elliot, 
  Mono. 
  Phas., 
  1872, 
  pt. 
  ii, 
  

   pi. 
  III.; 
  Scully, 
  Stray 
  Feathers, 
  III. 
  1875, 
  p. 
  433. 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  chrysomelas 
  Elliot, 
  Stray 
  Feathers, 
  V. 
  1877, 
  p. 
  198 
  (nee 
  Sewertzow, 
  1875). 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colchicus 
  shawi 
  Rothschild, 
  Bull. 
  Brit. 
  Orn. 
  Club, 
  XIV. 
  1904, 
  p. 
  37; 
  Hartert, 
  Nov. 
  Zool., 
  XXIV. 
  

   1917, 
  p. 
  450. 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  shawi 
  chrysomeloides 
  Lorenz,. 
  Ornith. 
  Mon.,,XVII. 
  1909, 
  p. 
  171 
  (E. 
  Turkestan), 
  

  

  