﻿GREEN 
  JAPANESE 
  PHEASANT 
  131 
  

  

  too 
  dangerous. 
  As 
  I 
  encircled 
  it 
  I 
  now 
  and 
  then 
  snatched 
  a 
  clean 
  lettuce-leaf 
  or 
  a 
  

   fragrant 
  onion 
  from 
  the 
  clean-weeded 
  lines 
  of 
  vegetables. 
  In 
  the 
  sheltered 
  places 
  the 
  

   buzzing 
  of 
  early 
  flies 
  hinted 
  of 
  summer. 
  

  

  Suddenly 
  I 
  sighted 
  a 
  red 
  flag 
  waving 
  frantically 
  back 
  and 
  forth 
  and 
  near 
  it 
  

   distinguished 
  several 
  crouching 
  figures. 
  Approaching 
  closer 
  I 
  found 
  a 
  picket 
  of 
  

   Japanese 
  soldiery 
  signalling 
  to 
  a 
  distant 
  hillock, 
  where 
  with 
  glasses 
  I 
  discovered 
  two 
  

   or 
  three 
  companies 
  of 
  infantry 
  with 
  mounted 
  officers. 
  

  

  Realizing 
  that 
  few 
  pheasants 
  would 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  sham 
  battles 
  

   I 
  turned 
  abruptly 
  to 
  the 
  right 
  and 
  soon 
  lost 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  little 
  yellow 
  men 
  whose 
  game 
  

   of 
  war 
  was 
  working 
  havoc 
  with 
  the 
  vegetable 
  fields 
  of 
  the 
  poor 
  farmers. 
  

  

  Everywhere 
  I 
  remarked 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  cattle 
  and 
  horses, 
  but 
  soon 
  realized 
  that 
  

   there 
  is 
  no 
  pasture 
  for 
  them. 
  Every 
  inch 
  of 
  level 
  or 
  tillable 
  soil 
  is 
  given 
  up 
  to 
  farming, 
  

   and 
  the 
  rice 
  straw 
  is 
  all 
  bundled 
  and 
  saved 
  for 
  roof 
  thatch. 
  

  

  A 
  rasping 
  screech 
  and 
  a 
  whirr 
  of 
  wings 
  came 
  from 
  behind 
  a 
  pile 
  of 
  these 
  bundles, 
  

   and 
  I 
  flushed 
  my 
  first 
  Green 
  Pheasant. 
  The 
  sudden 
  flight 
  ended 
  in 
  the 
  usual 
  long 
  

   scale 
  to 
  the 
  ground. 
  Walking 
  rapidly 
  upward, 
  through 
  dwarf 
  pine 
  and 
  dead 
  bamboo 
  

   grass, 
  I 
  concealed 
  myself 
  in 
  a 
  pile 
  of 
  brush 
  and 
  there 
  waited. 
  The 
  day 
  was 
  a 
  perfect 
  

   one, 
  and 
  the 
  mellow 
  earth 
  gave 
  forth 
  the 
  delicious 
  odour 
  of 
  thawing 
  warmth, 
  which 
  

   only 
  the 
  dweller 
  in 
  temperate 
  zones 
  can 
  know 
  and 
  love. 
  

  

  A 
  brown-headed 
  shrike 
  sat 
  on 
  a 
  dead 
  pine 
  shrub 
  and 
  watched 
  with 
  me. 
  For 
  two 
  

   hours 
  he 
  saw 
  nothing 
  edible, 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  I 
  detected 
  no 
  pheasants, 
  although 
  

   the 
  spring 
  call 
  of 
  the 
  males 
  came 
  clearly 
  from 
  two 
  points 
  not 
  far 
  away. 
  Then 
  I 
  

   attempted 
  to 
  stalk 
  them 
  and 
  failed 
  to 
  get 
  even 
  a 
  glimpse. 
  Such 
  are 
  the 
  haunts 
  of 
  the 
  

   Green 
  Japanese 
  Pheasants, 
  and 
  such 
  was 
  my 
  first 
  day 
  among 
  them. 
  . 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  The 
  Green 
  Japanese 
  Pheasant 
  is 
  not 
  found 
  in 
  Yezo, 
  neither 
  in 
  the 
  smaller 
  Kurile 
  

   Islands 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  or 
  in 
  Tsushima 
  or 
  the 
  southern 
  Loochoo 
  Islands. 
  It 
  is 
  distributed 
  

   in 
  suitable 
  places 
  throughout 
  Honda, 
  Shikoku 
  and 
  Kiushiu, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  smaller 
  

   Seven 
  Isles 
  of 
  Izu 
  and 
  in 
  Sado 
  Island 
  in 
  the 
  Japan 
  Sea. 
  The 
  absence 
  of 
  pheasants 
  

   from 
  Yezo 
  is 
  another 
  confirmation 
  of 
  the 
  important 
  barrier 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  deep 
  straits 
  

   of 
  Tsugaru, 
  which 
  for 
  many 
  ages 
  have 
  apparently 
  separated 
  the 
  remainder 
  of 
  Japan 
  

   from 
  all 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  mainland. 
  Monkeys 
  share 
  the 
  southern 
  distribution 
  

   in 
  common 
  with 
  the 
  pheasants, 
  while 
  grouse 
  occur 
  only 
  on 
  Yezo 
  and 
  northward. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  This 
  bird, 
  the 
  most 
  distinct 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  Phasianus 
  group 
  of 
  pheasants, 
  is 
  separated 
  

   from 
  the 
  others 
  by 
  a 
  water 
  barrier. 
  On 
  the 
  three 
  good-sized 
  islands 
  which 
  form 
  its 
  

   home 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  bird 
  of 
  the 
  lowlands 
  and 
  seldom 
  reaches 
  any 
  great 
  height 
  on 
  the 
  ranges 
  

   and 
  mountains 
  of 
  the 
  interior. 
  This 
  preference 
  for 
  low 
  altitudes 
  makes 
  it 
  essentially 
  

   an 
  inhabitant 
  of 
  the 
  coastal 
  region, 
  although 
  in 
  Honda 
  in 
  some 
  places 
  it 
  extends 
  quite 
  

   across 
  the 
  island, 
  following 
  the 
  low 
  valleys 
  and 
  gaps 
  in 
  the 
  ridges. 
  Again 
  I 
  have 
  

   seen 
  it 
  and 
  heard 
  its 
  call 
  within 
  a 
  few 
  hundred 
  yards 
  of 
  the 
  surf 
  breaking 
  on 
  the 
  shore. 
  

  

  Search 
  for 
  any 
  Japanese 
  pheasant 
  must 
  begin 
  and 
  usually 
  ends 
  within 
  sight 
  or 
  

   close 
  to 
  human 
  dwellings 
  or 
  tilled 
  fields. 
  This, 
  combined 
  with 
  the 
  dense 
  population 
  

  

  