﻿STRAUCH'S 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colchicus 
  stmuchi 
  Przewalski 
  

  

  NAMES. 
  — 
  Subspecific 
  : 
  straucki, 
  after 
  M. 
  A. 
  A. 
  Strauch, 
  the 
  Russian 
  Academician. 
  English 
  : 
  Strauch's 
  

   Pheasant. 
  

  

  Type. 
  — 
  Locality: 
  Tatung, 
  Buhuk-gol. 
  Describer 
  : 
  Przewalski. 
  Place 
  of 
  Description: 
  Mongolia, 
  II. 
  

   1876, 
  p. 
  119. 
  

  

  SUBSPECIFIC 
  CHARACTERS. 
  — 
  Usually 
  to 
  be 
  distinguished 
  from 
  elegans 
  and 
  vlangalii 
  by 
  the 
  purple-green 
  

   instead 
  of 
  dark-green 
  margins 
  of 
  the 
  chest 
  and 
  breast 
  feathers. 
  Ogilvie-Grant 
  also 
  considers 
  that 
  from 
  elegans 
  it 
  is 
  

   further 
  distinguished 
  by 
  having 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  scapulars 
  whitish 
  buff 
  freckled 
  with 
  black 
  next 
  the 
  shaft, 
  and 
  

   from 
  vlangalii 
  by 
  the 
  margins 
  of 
  these 
  feathers 
  being 
  Indian 
  red. 
  The 
  dorsal 
  plumage 
  of 
  the 
  female 
  is 
  like 
  

   colchicus, 
  but 
  the 
  nape 
  and 
  mantle 
  feathers 
  are 
  indistinctly 
  tipped 
  with 
  dark 
  green, 
  instead 
  of 
  violet 
  and 
  purple. 
  

  

  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  Southern 
  Kansu, 
  north 
  to 
  the 
  Tatung 
  River, 
  East 
  central 
  Shensi, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  

   Ta-pai-shan 
  in 
  the 
  Tsin-ling 
  Range. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  This 
  form, 
  living 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  heart 
  of 
  China, 
  amid 
  a 
  great 
  tumbled 
  mass 
  of 
  

   mountains, 
  is 
  typical 
  of 
  its 
  genus 
  in 
  the 
  trouble 
  it 
  has 
  given 
  to 
  taxonomists. 
  Only 
  when 
  

   a 
  large 
  series 
  was 
  obtained 
  by 
  Rothschild 
  and 
  Hartert 
  was 
  proof 
  available 
  that 
  the 
  

   characters 
  were 
  so 
  variable 
  and 
  so 
  individual 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  deserving 
  of 
  no 
  subspecific 
  

   recognition. 
  Hartert 
  writes 
  of 
  this 
  form 
  : 
  

  

  " 
  None 
  of 
  the 
  characters 
  on 
  which 
  the 
  authors 
  relied 
  is 
  constant, 
  and 
  stranchi 
  is 
  

   altogether 
  a 
  rather 
  variable 
  bird. 
  I 
  should 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  confident 
  and 
  so 
  sure 
  about 
  

   this 
  if 
  we 
  had 
  not 
  received 
  from 
  the 
  late 
  Alan 
  Owston's 
  Japanese 
  collectors 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  

   not 
  less 
  than 
  28 
  adult 
  males— 
  from 
  Ta-pai-shan 
  in 
  the 
  centre 
  of 
  the 
  Tsin-ling 
  Range. 
  

   This 
  magnificent 
  series, 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  compare 
  with 
  twelve 
  others 
  in 
  the 
  

   Tring 
  and 
  British 
  Museums, 
  shows 
  quite 
  clearly 
  how 
  strauchi 
  varies. 
  The 
  crown 
  of 
  

   the 
  head 
  is 
  sometimes 
  quite 
  brownish 
  bronzy, 
  but 
  mostly 
  of 
  a 
  dark 
  green. 
  The 
  white 
  

   collar 
  on 
  the 
  hind 
  neck 
  is 
  sometimes 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  centimetre 
  wide, 
  and 
  only 
  interrupted 
  

   in 
  front, 
  more 
  often 
  narrower 
  and 
  only 
  indicated, 
  and 
  also 
  often 
  quite 
  absent, 
  without 
  a 
  

   trace 
  of 
  it. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  whole 
  upperside 
  varies 
  in 
  colour, 
  more 
  or 
  less, 
  the 
  rump 
  chiefly 
  according 
  to 
  

   season, 
  as 
  the 
  green 
  and 
  creamy 
  bars 
  of 
  the 
  feathers 
  become 
  much 
  more 
  conspicuous 
  

   after 
  the 
  breeding 
  season, 
  when 
  the 
  edges 
  are 
  worn 
  off. 
  The 
  long 
  middle 
  rectrices 
  are 
  

   sometimes 
  much 
  lighter, 
  sometimes 
  darker, 
  more 
  tinged 
  with 
  rufous 
  brown, 
  and 
  the 
  

   width 
  of 
  the 
  black 
  bars 
  is 
  not 
  constant. 
  The 
  underside 
  is 
  equally 
  variable. 
  The 
  sides 
  

   of 
  the 
  breast 
  are 
  sometimes 
  much 
  lighter, 
  more 
  ' 
  buffy 
  golden-brown,' 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  

  

  106 
  

  

  