﻿STONE'S 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colchicus 
  elegans 
  Elliot 
  

  

  Names. 
  — 
  Subspecific 
  : 
  elegans, 
  Latin, 
  elegant, 
  graceful. 
  English 
  : 
  Stone's 
  Pheasant. 
  Vernacular 
  : 
  Tarechi 
  

   (Lola), 
  Wucru 
  (Kachin), 
  Tso-ka 
  (Tibetan). 
  

  

  Type. 
  — 
  Locality 
  : 
  Yun-ling 
  Mountains. 
  Describer 
  : 
  D. 
  G. 
  Elliot. 
  Place 
  of 
  Description 
  : 
  Ann. 
  and 
  Mag. 
  

   Nat. 
  Hist. 
  (4), 
  VI. 
  1870, 
  p. 
  312. 
  

  

  Subspecific 
  Characters. 
  — 
  Male 
  : 
  Differs 
  from 
  vlangalii 
  in 
  having 
  the 
  flanks 
  coppery 
  maroon 
  instead 
  of 
  

   golden 
  buff, 
  and 
  the 
  mantle 
  and 
  scapulars 
  maroon 
  instead 
  of 
  sandy 
  red. 
  P.c. 
  decollatus 
  and 
  strauchi 
  have 
  the 
  dark 
  

   green 
  of 
  the 
  back 
  broken 
  by 
  bands 
  of 
  the 
  yellow 
  or 
  coppery 
  red 
  of 
  the 
  chest, 
  while 
  in 
  elegans 
  the 
  green 
  extends 
  

   unbroken 
  to 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  chest 
  and 
  breast. 
  Female 
  : 
  Very 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  females 
  of 
  the 
  neighbouring 
  forms 
  on 
  

   the 
  east 
  and 
  north, 
  but 
  differing 
  from 
  colchicus 
  colchicus 
  in 
  the 
  white 
  throat 
  and 
  fore-neck, 
  and 
  the 
  irregularly 
  

   black-barred 
  underparts. 
  

  

  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  Mountains 
  of 
  eastern 
  Tibet, 
  south-western 
  Szechuan, 
  north-western 
  Yunnan, 
  

   Kachin 
  Hills, 
  and 
  Northern 
  and 
  Southern 
  Shan 
  States. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  which 
  occurs 
  within 
  the 
  boundaries 
  of 
  

   British 
  India. 
  I 
  heard 
  pheasants 
  calling 
  near 
  Myitkyina 
  while 
  I 
  was 
  outfitting 
  for 
  my 
  

   expedition 
  eastward 
  into 
  Yunnan, 
  but 
  had 
  no 
  opportunity 
  of 
  searching 
  for 
  them. 
  Not 
  

   until 
  I 
  was 
  on 
  my 
  way 
  back, 
  after 
  studying 
  the 
  Gennaeus 
  hybrids 
  beyond 
  Sadon, 
  did 
  I 
  

   find 
  elegans. 
  A 
  half-eaten 
  bird 
  taken 
  from 
  a 
  Kachin 
  dead-fall 
  was 
  easily 
  identified 
  as 
  

   this 
  form, 
  with 
  the 
  unusual 
  character 
  of 
  a 
  posterior 
  white 
  collar, 
  almost 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  

   width. 
  Two 
  days 
  later 
  I 
  shot 
  a 
  male 
  pheasant 
  in 
  nearly 
  adult 
  plumage, 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  

   slope 
  down 
  which 
  the 
  flocks 
  of 
  kaleege 
  came 
  each 
  day 
  to 
  drink. 
  

  

  I 
  learned 
  nothing 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  this 
  bird, 
  and 
  the 
  natives 
  called 
  them 
  merely 
  wild 
  

   hen, 
  Tarechi. 
  

  

  W. 
  R. 
  Zappey, 
  who 
  has 
  shot 
  these 
  birds 
  in 
  western 
  Szechuan, 
  writes 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  

   found 
  them 
  from 
  Wa 
  Shan, 
  the 
  Lolo 
  country, 
  to 
  Tachien-lu, 
  at 
  from 
  five 
  to 
  ten 
  thousand 
  

   feet 
  altitude. 
  They 
  occurred 
  more 
  frequently 
  in 
  grassy 
  and 
  bushy 
  places 
  near 
  cultiva- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  kept 
  in 
  small 
  families. 
  One 
  day, 
  while 
  he 
  was 
  shooting 
  these 
  birds, 
  he 
  drove 
  

   a 
  male 
  out 
  from 
  a 
  patch 
  of 
  cover 
  into 
  a 
  ploughed 
  field. 
  A 
  golden 
  eagle 
  saw 
  it 
  and 
  made 
  

   a 
  swoop. 
  The 
  pheasant 
  squatted 
  on 
  a 
  clod 
  of 
  earth 
  until 
  the 
  eagle 
  was 
  very 
  close, 
  and 
  

   then 
  by 
  a 
  half-run, 
  half-fly 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  feet 
  to 
  one 
  side, 
  avoided 
  its 
  assailant. 
  The 
  eagle 
  

   rose, 
  circled 
  a 
  few 
  times, 
  and 
  swooped 
  again, 
  and 
  again 
  the 
  pheasant 
  dodged 
  sideways. 
  

   This 
  time 
  the 
  eagle 
  gave 
  up 
  the 
  chase. 
  

  

  Captain 
  Davies 
  found 
  these 
  pheasants 
  near 
  the 
  summits 
  of 
  the 
  ranges 
  in 
  Western 
  

  

  108 
  

  

  