﻿EASTERN 
  CHINESE 
  RING-NECKED 
  PHEASANT 
  125 
  

  

  twenty-five 
  birds 
  were 
  collected 
  to 
  a 
  single 
  gun. 
  With 
  a 
  party 
  directed 
  with 
  some 
  

   regard 
  to 
  strategy 
  there 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  very 
  good 
  bag 
  made 
  on 
  that 
  occasion, 
  for 
  

   pheasants 
  were 
  as 
  plentiful 
  as 
  one 
  could 
  remember 
  them 
  within 
  a 
  dozen 
  years 
  after 
  the 
  

   end 
  of 
  the 
  Taiping 
  rebellion. 
  Then 
  whole 
  bouquets 
  of 
  birds 
  might 
  be 
  put 
  up 
  out 
  of 
  

   favourite 
  pieces 
  of 
  cover, 
  reeds, 
  bamboos, 
  or 
  what 
  not. 
  In 
  the 
  morning 
  they 
  might 
  be 
  

   seen 
  running 
  ahead 
  of 
  sportsmen 
  till 
  they 
  had 
  reached 
  what 
  they 
  thought 
  a 
  safe 
  distance 
  

   to 
  rise, 
  or 
  disappeared 
  altogether 
  in 
  cover. 
  Shooting 
  was 
  comparatively 
  easy 
  in 
  those 
  

   days, 
  and 
  little 
  was 
  looked 
  at 
  but 
  pheasants, 
  deer, 
  hares, 
  pig, 
  and 
  such 
  waterfowl 
  as 
  

   got 
  up 
  from 
  creeks 
  and 
  ponds. 
  Native 
  hunters 
  were 
  few 
  and 
  far 
  between, 
  and 
  there 
  

   was 
  not 
  the 
  market 
  demand 
  there 
  is 
  now. 
  

  

  "Since 
  pheasants 
  feed 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  mornings 
  and 
  evenings, 
  it 
  follows 
  that 
  the 
  best 
  

   shooting 
  is 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  got 
  at 
  those 
  times, 
  but 
  during 
  the 
  middle 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  day, 
  when, 
  

   after 
  a 
  satisfactory 
  breakfast 
  — 
  and 
  pheasants 
  have 
  quite 
  as 
  good 
  an 
  appetite 
  as 
  other 
  

   birds 
  — 
  they 
  are 
  lying 
  up 
  for 
  the 
  siesta. 
  Sometimes 
  cocks 
  and 
  hens 
  go 
  up 
  together, 
  but 
  

   more 
  often 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  separately. 
  Cocks 
  particularly, 
  if 
  alone, 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  

   special 
  liking 
  for 
  little 
  clumps 
  of 
  young 
  bamboos 
  : 
  hens, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  love 
  a 
  warm, 
  

   .grassy 
  bank 
  such 
  as 
  might 
  otherwise 
  contain 
  quails. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  wise 
  to 
  attempt 
  too 
  

   exactly 
  to 
  define 
  likely 
  places, 
  for 
  the 
  pheasants 
  at 
  times 
  seem 
  ubiquitous, 
  and 
  will 
  rise 
  

   from 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  an 
  open 
  field 
  as 
  readily 
  as 
  from 
  the 
  most 
  tempting 
  cover. 
  In 
  

   common 
  with 
  partridges 
  they 
  appear 
  to 
  like 
  a 
  drink 
  of 
  water 
  during 
  the 
  heat 
  of 
  the 
  day. 
  

   It 
  will 
  not, 
  of 
  course, 
  be 
  news 
  to 
  the 
  experienced 
  sportsman 
  when 
  he 
  hears 
  that 
  the 
  

   pheasant 
  swims 
  well. 
  That, 
  however, 
  is 
  a 
  fact 
  at 
  which 
  the 
  beginner 
  may 
  be 
  surprised. 
  

   I 
  have 
  seen 
  on 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  occasions 
  winged 
  birds 
  trying 
  to 
  save 
  themselves 
  by 
  swim- 
  

   ming 
  across 
  creeks, 
  when 
  their 
  motion 
  is 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  moor-hen, 
  the 
  head 
  going 
  

   backward 
  and 
  forward 
  in 
  time 
  with 
  the 
  movement 
  of 
  the 
  feet. 
  Some 
  men 
  declare 
  that 
  

   they 
  dive. 
  

  

  "Their 
  running 
  powers 
  are 
  well 
  known. 
  A 
  hard 
  chase 
  after 
  an 
  old 
  cock 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  

   bad 
  test 
  of 
  the 
  wind 
  of 
  the 
  sportsman 
  without 
  a 
  retriever. 
  Once 
  it 
  was 
  my 
  fortune 
  to 
  

   lose 
  a 
  fine 
  bird 
  notwithstanding 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  I 
  had 
  a 
  pointer. 
  She 
  was 
  old, 
  however, 
  

   and 
  as 
  the 
  bird 
  had 
  a 
  good 
  start 
  she 
  actually 
  got 
  off 
  to 
  cover 
  a 
  good 
  seven 
  hundred 
  

   yards 
  -away, 
  the 
  dog 
  giving 
  up 
  the 
  chase. 
  On 
  two 
  occasions 
  our 
  winter 
  visitors, 
  the 
  

   so-called 
  'Bromley' 
  kites 
  (a 
  corruption 
  of 
  'Brahminy') 
  have 
  unintentionally 
  retrieved 
  

   birds 
  for 
  me, 
  or 
  rather 
  have 
  shown 
  where 
  they 
  were, 
  by 
  their 
  persistent 
  attack 
  on 
  them. 
  

   When 
  unhurt, 
  a 
  cock 
  pheasant 
  thinks 
  nothing 
  of 
  the 
  swoop 
  of 
  these 
  gentry, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  

   otherwise 
  when 
  he 
  has 
  been 
  hard 
  hit." 
  

  

  The 
  Yangtze 
  Valley 
  Ring-necks 
  roost 
  upon 
  the 
  ground, 
  even 
  where 
  there 
  are 
  suitable 
  

   trees, 
  but 
  in 
  regions 
  where 
  ground-vermin 
  are 
  abundant 
  the 
  pheasants 
  are 
  driven 
  into 
  

   whatever 
  shelter 
  they 
  can 
  find. 
  Under 
  such 
  conditions 
  the 
  cocks 
  are 
  sometimes 
  found 
  

   in 
  the 
  crown 
  of 
  the 
  scrub 
  oaks, 
  dwarf 
  oaks 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  trimmed 
  and 
  cut 
  for 
  fire- 
  

   wood, 
  and 
  whose 
  thick 
  central 
  butt, 
  pollard-like, 
  has 
  sent 
  out 
  thin 
  shoots 
  all 
  around. 
  

   In 
  the 
  spring 
  these 
  slender 
  shoots 
  are 
  brightly 
  coloured 
  and 
  completely 
  conceal 
  the 
  

   brilliant 
  hues 
  of 
  a 
  cock 
  pheasant's 
  plumage. 
  Several 
  hens 
  will 
  come 
  night 
  after 
  

   night 
  to 
  some 
  favourite 
  bank 
  of 
  moss 
  among 
  a 
  thin 
  growth 
  of 
  pines, 
  and 
  squat 
  close 
  

   together. 
  In 
  the 
  reeds 
  of 
  the 
  river-banks 
  large 
  covies 
  find 
  shelter 
  in 
  close 
  proximity. 
  

  

  In 
  rocky 
  regions, 
  the 
  pheasants, 
  on 
  cold 
  days 
  of 
  early 
  spring 
  or 
  late 
  autumn, 
  

  

  