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  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  of 
  Japan, 
  makes 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  practically 
  dependent 
  upon 
  the 
  will 
  of 
  the 
  

   natives. 
  It 
  is 
  in 
  much 
  the 
  same 
  case 
  as 
  the 
  pheasants 
  on 
  the 
  preserves 
  of 
  England, 
  

   except, 
  of 
  course, 
  that 
  the 
  Japanese 
  bird 
  is 
  indigenous. 
  Although 
  the 
  farmers 
  and 
  

   peasants 
  do 
  considerable 
  trapping 
  and 
  poaching, 
  this 
  is 
  carried 
  on 
  with 
  extreme 
  

   caution, 
  for 
  the 
  laws 
  concerning 
  the 
  preserving 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  are 
  very 
  strict. 
  This 
  was 
  

   the 
  case 
  even 
  as 
  far 
  back 
  as 
  1852, 
  when 
  Mr. 
  Heine, 
  the 
  naturalist 
  attached 
  to 
  

   Commodore 
  Perry's 
  expedition, 
  visited 
  Japan. 
  

  

  He 
  writes: 
  "A 
  few 
  days 
  after, 
  Lieutenants 
  Bent 
  and 
  Nicholson 
  and 
  myself 
  made 
  

   another 
  shooting 
  excursion 
  to 
  the 
  hills, 
  but 
  although 
  we 
  saw 
  many 
  pheasants, 
  only 
  

   a 
  single 
  specimen 
  was 
  shot, 
  and 
  the 
  birds 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  shy. 
  We 
  observed 
  

   several 
  Japanese 
  with 
  matchlocks 
  about 
  the 
  hills, 
  firing 
  away 
  at 
  a 
  great 
  rate. 
  As 
  we 
  

   did 
  not 
  see 
  any 
  of 
  them 
  with 
  game, 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  game-laws 
  of 
  Japan 
  are 
  very 
  severe, 
  

   so 
  much 
  so, 
  indeed, 
  that 
  their 
  observance 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  a 
  special 
  article 
  of 
  the 
  treaty 
  

   with 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  I 
  concluded 
  that 
  the 
  firing 
  was 
  only 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  driving 
  

   away 
  the 
  pheasants 
  to 
  places 
  where 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  more 
  secure 
  from 
  the 
  strangers." 
  

  

  The 
  best 
  place 
  for 
  studying 
  these 
  birds, 
  as 
  also 
  the 
  copper 
  pheasants, 
  I 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  

   the 
  training 
  grounds 
  of 
  the 
  troops, 
  which 
  were 
  reservations 
  of 
  good 
  size 
  and 
  apparently 
  

   Imperial 
  Preserves, 
  usually 
  free 
  from 
  peasants 
  and 
  cultivation, 
  and 
  where 
  the 
  birds 
  were 
  

   easily 
  approached. 
  This 
  was 
  owing 
  to 
  their 
  having 
  become 
  accustomed 
  to 
  the 
  noise 
  of 
  

   the 
  presence 
  of 
  human 
  beings 
  through 
  the 
  din 
  and 
  uproar 
  of 
  sham 
  battles 
  and 
  other 
  

   military 
  tactics. 
  These 
  are 
  also 
  included 
  among 
  the 
  Imperial 
  Preserves. 
  Thanks 
  to 
  

   permits 
  obtained 
  from 
  the 
  Imperial 
  Hunting 
  Bureau 
  of 
  the 
  Imperial 
  Household 
  

   Department 
  I 
  observed 
  pheasants 
  in 
  the 
  preserves 
  of 
  Narashinohara 
  in 
  Chiba 
  Pre- 
  

   fecture 
  ; 
  of 
  Renkojimura 
  in 
  Tokio 
  and 
  of 
  Iwase 
  in 
  Fukushima 
  Prefecture. 
  

  

  Even 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  copper 
  pheasants, 
  however, 
  the 
  Green 
  Japanese 
  Pheasants 
  

   seem 
  to 
  prefer 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  human 
  cultivated 
  fields, 
  and 
  when 
  the 
  farmers 
  suffer, 
  as 
  

   they 
  frequently 
  do, 
  from 
  the 
  inroads 
  of 
  pheasants 
  in 
  their 
  vegetable 
  gardens, 
  it 
  is 
  almost 
  

   always 
  the 
  latter 
  species 
  which 
  is 
  to 
  blame. 
  I 
  heard 
  of 
  several 
  instances 
  where 
  wild 
  

   birds 
  came 
  regularly 
  to 
  feed 
  with 
  fowls 
  and 
  nested 
  close 
  by. 
  

  

  In 
  such 
  a 
  locality 
  I 
  found 
  myself 
  one 
  spring 
  morning 
  after 
  a 
  warm 
  downpour, 
  

   when 
  for 
  thirty 
  minutes 
  I 
  watched 
  three 
  hens 
  scratching 
  in 
  a 
  corner 
  of 
  a 
  muddy 
  

   rice-field. 
  Their 
  feet, 
  legs 
  and 
  under 
  plumage 
  were 
  splashed 
  and 
  coated 
  with 
  the 
  

   wet 
  clay, 
  but 
  they 
  were 
  unearthing 
  a 
  feast 
  of 
  grubs 
  which 
  was 
  well 
  worth 
  a 
  few 
  

   bedraggled 
  feathers. 
  While 
  absorbed 
  in 
  these 
  birds, 
  my 
  attention 
  was 
  drawn 
  to 
  a 
  

   distant 
  pine 
  tree, 
  from 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  which 
  a 
  white-eye 
  was 
  singing 
  — 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  few 
  real 
  

   bird-songs 
  which 
  I 
  heard 
  at 
  this 
  season 
  in 
  Japan. 
  A 
  moment 
  after 
  I 
  fixed 
  my 
  glasses 
  

   on 
  the 
  singer 
  it 
  stopped 
  abruptly 
  and 
  flew 
  down, 
  and 
  its 
  place 
  was 
  immediately 
  taken 
  

   by 
  a 
  cock 
  Green 
  Pheasant. 
  After 
  balancing 
  itself 
  for 
  a 
  moment 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  this 
  four- 
  

   foot 
  pine 
  tree, 
  it 
  raised 
  its 
  beak, 
  uttered 
  the 
  strident 
  double 
  challenge 
  of 
  its 
  kind, 
  and 
  

   with 
  the 
  effort, 
  overbalanced 
  and 
  fluttered 
  to 
  the 
  ground. 
  Later 
  I 
  saw 
  what 
  was 
  

   probably 
  the 
  same 
  bird 
  calling 
  from 
  a 
  more 
  secure 
  perch 
  on 
  the 
  summit 
  of 
  a 
  low 
  

   treeless 
  ridge 
  higher 
  up 
  the 
  slope. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  many 
  walks 
  throughout 
  the 
  Green 
  Pheasant 
  country 
  I 
  came 
  twice 
  

   upon 
  worn 
  patches 
  which 
  were 
  evidently 
  winter 
  sleeping-places 
  of 
  a 
  covey 
  of 
  these 
  

   birds. 
  Much 
  down 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  contour 
  feathers 
  were 
  scattered 
  about, 
  and 
  the 
  roundness 
  

  

  