﻿COREAN 
  PHEASANT 
  117 
  

  

  When 
  trying 
  to 
  get 
  away 
  from 
  the 
  hunter, 
  they 
  will 
  always 
  fly 
  and 
  not 
  sail 
  until 
  some 
  

   distance 
  away. 
  Invariably 
  just 
  before 
  alighting 
  they 
  sail 
  for 
  several 
  yards 
  on 
  set 
  wings. 
  

   They 
  seem 
  to 
  fly 
  fast, 
  but 
  in 
  reality 
  they 
  do 
  not. 
  I 
  could 
  usually 
  get 
  them 
  when 
  within 
  

   forty 
  yards 
  by 
  aiming 
  six 
  inches 
  ahead 
  of 
  the 
  bird. 
  

  

  "The 
  only 
  noise 
  other 
  than 
  vocal 
  which 
  I 
  heard 
  was 
  the 
  rapid 
  whirr 
  of 
  their 
  wings 
  

   when 
  rising. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  pheasants 
  really 
  depend 
  more 
  on 
  their 
  eyes 
  than 
  on 
  their 
  ears 
  

   for 
  protection 
  from 
  enemies. 
  I 
  have 
  repeatedly 
  been 
  walking 
  across 
  rice 
  paddys 
  with 
  a 
  

   man 
  beside 
  me 
  talking 
  loudly, 
  and 
  almost 
  stepped 
  on 
  pheasants 
  which 
  were 
  drinking 
  

   under 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  a 
  terrace 
  in 
  my 
  path 
  ; 
  they 
  could, 
  undoubtedly, 
  have 
  heard 
  me 
  coming 
  

   forty 
  or 
  fifty 
  yards 
  away, 
  if 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  relying 
  on 
  their 
  hearing. 
  One 
  time 
  I 
  broke 
  

   suddenly 
  through 
  some 
  thick 
  underbrush, 
  making 
  considerable 
  noise, 
  and 
  when 
  I 
  

   emerged 
  I 
  saw 
  a 
  pheasant 
  feeding 
  almost 
  facing 
  me 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  yards 
  away. 
  

   The 
  bird 
  did 
  not 
  raise 
  his 
  head 
  until 
  I 
  walked 
  five 
  or 
  ten 
  yards 
  in 
  its 
  direction, 
  when 
  

   it 
  suddenly 
  straightened, 
  saw 
  me, 
  and 
  took 
  to 
  flight. 
  I 
  could 
  cite 
  numerous 
  other 
  

   instances 
  which 
  lead 
  me 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  rely 
  almost 
  entirely 
  on 
  their 
  eyes 
  

   rather 
  than 
  their 
  hearing. 
  

  

  " 
  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  say 
  what 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  civilization 
  have 
  been 
  on 
  the 
  pheasants 
  in 
  

   Corea. 
  Since 
  1909 
  all 
  guns 
  have 
  been 
  confiscated 
  from 
  the 
  Coreans 
  themselves, 
  and 
  

   consequently 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  able 
  to 
  kill 
  pheasants 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  trap 
  and 
  snare 
  a 
  considerable 
  

   number. 
  The 
  foreigners 
  in 
  the 
  various 
  towns 
  do 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  shooting, 
  and 
  annually 
  

   kill 
  thousands 
  of 
  pheasants. 
  They 
  are, 
  however, 
  still 
  very 
  plentiful, 
  and 
  I 
  could 
  not 
  

   find 
  that 
  the 
  foreigners 
  believed 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  decreasing 
  greatly 
  in 
  numbers. 
  At 
  

   Ulsan, 
  which, 
  by 
  the 
  way, 
  was 
  not 
  an 
  especially 
  good 
  locality 
  for 
  pheasants, 
  I 
  could 
  

   always 
  put 
  up 
  ten 
  or 
  fifteen 
  birds 
  in 
  an 
  hour's 
  walk. 
  In 
  other 
  sections 
  I 
  heard 
  of 
  forty 
  

   or 
  fifty 
  pheasants 
  being 
  killed 
  in 
  a 
  day 
  with 
  no 
  difficulty 
  whatever. 
  The 
  birds 
  have 
  

   evidently 
  adapted 
  themselves 
  to 
  deforestation, 
  since 
  the 
  south 
  and 
  central 
  parts 
  of 
  Corea 
  

   for 
  several 
  hundred 
  years 
  have 
  been 
  absolutely 
  denuded 
  of 
  trees. 
  The 
  pheasants 
  were 
  

   never 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  trees, 
  wherever 
  there 
  were 
  any, 
  except 
  at 
  night. 
  The 
  greatest 
  amount 
  

   of 
  shooting 
  is 
  done 
  from 
  September 
  to 
  April, 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  legal 
  protection 
  at 
  any 
  

   time 
  during 
  the 
  year. 
  

  

  "Once 
  only 
  did 
  I 
  put 
  a 
  pheasant 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  tree; 
  this 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  quite 
  dark 
  and 
  

   the 
  bird 
  undoubtedly 
  asleep. 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  cock 
  pheasant 
  and 
  alone. 
  I 
  have, 
  however, 
  

   flushed 
  pheasants 
  from 
  the 
  ground 
  in 
  the 
  thick 
  cover 
  where 
  they 
  were 
  undoubtedly 
  

   sleeping. 
  I 
  should 
  say 
  that 
  more 
  frequently 
  they 
  roost 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  than 
  in 
  trees. 
  

  

  "The 
  birds 
  always 
  fed 
  on 
  the 
  ground. 
  In 
  the 
  early 
  morning, 
  from 
  daylight 
  until 
  

   about 
  an 
  hour 
  after 
  sunrise, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  afternoon, 
  from 
  3.30 
  until 
  sundown 
  and 
  a 
  short 
  

   time 
  afterward, 
  the 
  pheasants 
  were 
  always 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  rice 
  paddys 
  feeding 
  

   and 
  drinking 
  ; 
  they 
  would 
  never 
  feed' 
  where 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  water. 
  They 
  made 
  no 
  attempt 
  

   at 
  concealment 
  at 
  these 
  times, 
  but 
  seemed 
  to 
  trust 
  to 
  their 
  eyes 
  to 
  give 
  them 
  warning 
  

   of 
  danger. 
  Usually, 
  when 
  any 
  one 
  passed 
  by, 
  the 
  birds 
  would 
  flush 
  a 
  hundred 
  yards 
  

   or 
  more 
  away 
  and 
  fly 
  up 
  the 
  hillsides 
  to 
  cover. 
  If 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  fired 
  upon 
  they 
  would 
  

   frequently 
  go 
  into 
  the 
  trees 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  hill, 
  but 
  this 
  was 
  variable. 
  Without 
  

   exception, 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  they 
  alighted, 
  they 
  would 
  begin 
  to 
  run 
  and 
  usually 
  rise 
  several 
  

   hundred 
  yards 
  or 
  more 
  away 
  when 
  next 
  flushed. 
  When 
  hunted, 
  after 
  having 
  once 
  been 
  

  

  