﻿126 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  often 
  bask 
  in 
  the 
  sun 
  among 
  boulders 
  on 
  the 
  sheltered 
  slopes 
  of 
  hills, 
  and 
  in 
  hotter 
  

   weather 
  their 
  favourite 
  midday 
  occupation 
  is 
  taking 
  dust-baths 
  in 
  the 
  sun, 
  or 
  preening 
  

   their 
  feathers 
  and 
  dozing 
  in 
  the 
  shade 
  of 
  overhanging 
  foliage. 
  

  

  The 
  food 
  of 
  Ring-necked 
  pheasants 
  varies 
  with 
  the 
  seasons. 
  A 
  summary 
  of 
  crops 
  

   examined 
  reveals 
  a 
  diet 
  somewhat 
  like 
  the 
  following 
  — 
  

  

  January 
  : 
  chiefly 
  hibernating 
  insects 
  and 
  grubs, 
  especially 
  toward 
  the 
  south, 
  with 
  a 
  

   little 
  seed. 
  

  

  February 
  : 
  insects 
  and 
  young 
  spring 
  greens, 
  with 
  very 
  little 
  seed. 
  

  

  March 
  : 
  grubs 
  and 
  green 
  food. 
  

  

  April 
  : 
  greens, 
  insects 
  and 
  early 
  spring 
  grain. 
  

  

  May 
  : 
  adults, 
  insects 
  and 
  quantities 
  of 
  seeds 
  and 
  grains 
  ; 
  young, 
  small 
  insects 
  and 
  

   grit. 
  

  

  June 
  : 
  adults, 
  dry 
  grain, 
  crops 
  and 
  greens 
  ; 
  young, 
  insects 
  and 
  greens. 
  

  

  July 
  : 
  grain 
  and 
  green 
  food, 
  toward 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  month 
  begin 
  raids 
  on 
  rice- 
  

   lands. 
  

  

  August 
  : 
  rice 
  and 
  greens 
  ; 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  month 
  begin 
  feeding 
  in 
  the 
  bean-fields. 
  

  

  September 
  : 
  chiefly 
  cotton-seed 
  with 
  greens 
  and 
  rice, 
  becoming 
  fat 
  toward 
  end 
  of 
  

   month. 
  

  

  October 
  : 
  chiefly 
  beans, 
  acorns, 
  Spanish 
  chestnuts, 
  autumn 
  seeds, 
  buckwheat, 
  etc. 
  

  

  November 
  : 
  acorns, 
  cotton-seeds, 
  rice 
  gleanings, 
  and 
  the 
  seeds 
  and 
  insects 
  of 
  the 
  

   river 
  reeds. 
  

  

  December 
  : 
  grubs 
  and 
  insects, 
  acorns 
  and 
  beans, 
  with 
  very 
  little 
  cotton-seed. 
  

  

  North 
  of 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  where 
  kaoliang, 
  or 
  tall 
  millet, 
  is 
  grown, 
  pheasants 
  come 
  in 
  

   numbers 
  around 
  the 
  threshing-floors, 
  and 
  at 
  sundown, 
  after 
  the 
  coolies 
  have 
  gone, 
  they 
  

   eagerly 
  pick 
  up 
  the 
  stray 
  grain. 
  They 
  are 
  very 
  fond 
  both 
  of 
  the 
  tall 
  and 
  dwarf 
  millet, 
  and 
  

   excellent 
  shooting 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  had 
  in 
  the 
  stubble-fields 
  of 
  these 
  crops 
  throughout 
  November 
  

   and 
  December. 
  

  

  Ring-necks 
  are 
  polygamous, 
  and 
  cocks 
  in 
  the 
  prime 
  of 
  life 
  may 
  have 
  a 
  harem 
  of 
  

   four 
  to 
  eight 
  hens. 
  In 
  regions 
  where 
  hens 
  have 
  been 
  indiscriminately 
  shot 
  off, 
  the 
  birds 
  

   may 
  be 
  sometimes 
  seen 
  in 
  pairs, 
  and 
  I 
  believe 
  that 
  even 
  under 
  ordinary 
  conditions 
  some 
  

   individual 
  cocks 
  are 
  consistently 
  monogamous, 
  and 
  care 
  for 
  their 
  single 
  mate 
  and 
  her 
  

   brood. 
  

  

  Where 
  young 
  pines 
  and 
  firs 
  abound, 
  the 
  favourite 
  nesting-places 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  on 
  

   the 
  beds 
  of 
  soft 
  needles, 
  and 
  second 
  choice 
  is 
  usually 
  in 
  a 
  dense 
  clump 
  of 
  feather-grass. 
  

   No 
  nesting 
  material 
  is 
  ever 
  provided, 
  the 
  needles 
  or 
  grass 
  stems 
  being 
  pressed 
  down, 
  

   or 
  packed 
  up 
  by 
  the 
  weight 
  of 
  the 
  bird's 
  body 
  into 
  a 
  rim 
  of 
  sorts. 
  

  

  The 
  eggs 
  deposited 
  by 
  wild 
  Ring-necks 
  number 
  from 
  six 
  to 
  twelve, 
  with 
  sixteen 
  as 
  

   a 
  very 
  unusual 
  record 
  for 
  a 
  single 
  bird. 
  Two 
  broods 
  a 
  year 
  are 
  not 
  unusual, 
  but 
  a 
  third 
  

   effort 
  is 
  due 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  early 
  destruction 
  of 
  one 
  or 
  both 
  of 
  the 
  preceding. 
  The 
  breed- 
  

   ing 
  period 
  differs 
  with 
  the 
  latitude, 
  and 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  a 
  month's 
  difference 
  in 
  the 
  average 
  

   nesting 
  of 
  a 
  Kalgan 
  and 
  a 
  Foochow 
  bird. 
  

  

  The 
  chicks 
  in 
  general 
  habits 
  and 
  life 
  resemble 
  those 
  of 
  other 
  forms, 
  and 
  differ 
  

   from 
  domestic 
  chicks 
  chiefly 
  in 
  their 
  greater 
  wariness 
  and 
  activity. 
  They 
  bask 
  in 
  the 
  

   sun, 
  soon 
  learn 
  to 
  hunt 
  insects 
  for 
  themselves, 
  rush 
  to 
  the 
  protection 
  of 
  their 
  mother's 
  

  

  