﻿GREEN 
  JAPANESE 
  PHEASANT 
  133 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  " 
  form," 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  central 
  position 
  of 
  the 
  sign, 
  indicated 
  that 
  the 
  birds, 
  

   like 
  our 
  Bob-white, 
  slept 
  heads 
  outward. 
  How 
  the 
  long 
  tails 
  were 
  managed 
  when 
  they 
  

   slept 
  thus 
  closely, 
  tails 
  inward, 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  imagine. 
  In 
  many 
  places 
  where 
  these 
  birds 
  

   abounded 
  there 
  were 
  no 
  trees 
  large 
  enough 
  to 
  support 
  them. 
  In 
  one 
  instance 
  I 
  knew 
  

   of 
  three 
  cocks 
  which 
  slept 
  during 
  the 
  middle 
  months 
  of 
  the 
  winter 
  on 
  a 
  sloping 
  bamboo. 
  

   They 
  would 
  fly 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  highest 
  arc 
  of 
  the 
  circle, 
  and, 
  as 
  the 
  stem 
  bent 
  lower 
  under 
  the 
  

   weight 
  of 
  the 
  second 
  and 
  third 
  birds, 
  would 
  edge 
  up 
  the 
  joints 
  until 
  a 
  perfect 
  balance 
  

   was 
  attained. 
  How 
  they 
  left 
  their 
  swaying 
  perch 
  I 
  never 
  could 
  learn. 
  

  

  At 
  this 
  season 
  — 
  mid-February 
  — 
  the 
  cocks 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  their 
  mating, 
  and 
  

   every 
  good-sized 
  uncultivated 
  hillock 
  seemed 
  to 
  have 
  at 
  least 
  a 
  bird 
  which 
  called 
  and 
  

   answered 
  throughout 
  the 
  day, 
  especially 
  about 
  ten 
  o'clock 
  in 
  the 
  morning 
  and 
  again 
  at 
  

   four 
  in 
  the 
  afternoon. 
  Extended 
  inquiry 
  among 
  the 
  Japanese 
  farmers 
  indicated 
  that 
  

   these 
  birds 
  were 
  extremely 
  sedentary, 
  and 
  very 
  local 
  in 
  their 
  movements, 
  although 
  this 
  

   is 
  wholly 
  dependent 
  upon 
  latitude. 
  Sometimes 
  in 
  very 
  severe 
  weather 
  the 
  numbers 
  

   of 
  pheasants 
  in 
  some 
  sheltered 
  lowland 
  are 
  increased, 
  but 
  on 
  the 
  cessation 
  of 
  storms 
  the 
  

   birds 
  redistribute 
  themselves. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  northernmost 
  parts 
  of 
  Honda, 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  Sendai, 
  where 
  there 
  are 
  high 
  

   plains 
  and 
  mountains, 
  all 
  the 
  Kiji 
  descend 
  to 
  the 
  low 
  levels 
  and 
  the 
  sea-shore 
  during 
  

   the 
  cold 
  weather. 
  Formerly, 
  when 
  these 
  birds 
  were 
  more 
  abundant, 
  they 
  descended 
  in 
  

   great 
  numbers, 
  several 
  scores 
  being 
  visible 
  at 
  one 
  time, 
  all 
  headed 
  in 
  a 
  downward 
  

   direction. 
  This 
  always 
  took 
  place 
  in 
  January. 
  Such 
  a 
  pronounced 
  seasonal 
  shifting 
  in 
  

   search 
  of 
  food 
  is 
  only 
  slightly 
  marked 
  in 
  central 
  and 
  wholly 
  unknown 
  in 
  southern 
  Japan. 
  

  

  As 
  we 
  go 
  upward 
  and 
  inland 
  the 
  copper 
  pheasants 
  become 
  more 
  abundant, 
  

   and 
  after 
  a 
  comparatively 
  narrow 
  zone 
  is 
  passed, 
  when 
  both 
  species 
  are 
  found, 
  the 
  

   green 
  birds 
  disappear. 
  In 
  winter, 
  when 
  severe 
  storms 
  force 
  the 
  copper 
  pheasants 
  

   down 
  from 
  their 
  higher 
  haunts, 
  this 
  common 
  zone 
  is 
  much 
  widened, 
  the 
  copper 
  birds 
  

   penetrating 
  far 
  into 
  the 
  haunts 
  of 
  the 
  lowland 
  pheasants. 
  

  

  The 
  Green 
  Pheasants 
  of 
  any 
  one 
  valley 
  appear 
  to 
  hold 
  their 
  own 
  in 
  position 
  and 
  

   numbers 
  from 
  year 
  to 
  year. 
  The 
  balance 
  is 
  so 
  even 
  that 
  each 
  spring 
  one, 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  

   cocks 
  will 
  call 
  from 
  much 
  the 
  same 
  positions, 
  and 
  the 
  young 
  birds, 
  if 
  any 
  survive 
  the 
  

   dangers 
  of 
  elements, 
  weasels 
  and 
  poachers, 
  make 
  their 
  way 
  elsewhere. 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  

   that 
  the 
  mortality 
  just 
  equals 
  the 
  increase. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  condition 
  of 
  things 
  at 
  present. 
  

   Within 
  the 
  last 
  decade 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  great 
  depletion 
  of 
  pheasants, 
  the 
  high 
  prices 
  

   paid 
  by 
  milliners 
  making 
  the 
  poaching 
  risk 
  worth 
  taking, 
  and 
  resulting 
  in 
  the 
  complete 
  

   extermination 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  from 
  some 
  rather 
  extensive 
  areas. 
  While 
  they 
  have 
  not 
  as 
  

   yet 
  repopulated 
  these 
  regions, 
  the 
  pheasants 
  are 
  not 
  now 
  persecuted 
  as 
  much, 
  the 
  

   customs 
  being 
  very 
  strict 
  about 
  the 
  exportation 
  of 
  feathers 
  and 
  skins. 
  

  

  They 
  seem 
  to 
  keep 
  in 
  pairs 
  or 
  small 
  parties 
  during 
  the 
  winter, 
  pairing 
  off 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring, 
  the 
  cocks 
  with 
  from 
  one 
  to 
  three 
  hens, 
  and 
  again 
  uniting 
  in 
  small 
  flocks 
  as 
  

   families 
  in 
  the 
  autumn. 
  As 
  I 
  have 
  said, 
  covies 
  occasionally 
  associate 
  and 
  roost 
  together 
  

   during 
  the 
  colder 
  months. 
  The 
  cocks 
  are 
  untiring 
  in 
  their 
  challenging 
  in 
  early 
  spring, 
  

   and 
  so 
  omnipresent 
  was 
  this 
  sound 
  that, 
  after 
  hearing 
  it 
  over 
  much 
  of 
  China, 
  yet 
  

   when 
  the 
  broken 
  crow 
  comes 
  to 
  my 
  ears 
  from 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  eastern 
  fields 
  or 
  from 
  the 
  

   runway 
  of 
  a 
  Zoological 
  Garden, 
  it 
  is 
  always 
  some 
  Japanese 
  landscape 
  and 
  scene 
  which 
  

   the 
  sound 
  memory 
  revives. 
  

  

  