﻿136 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  his 
  single 
  or 
  several 
  hens 
  and 
  the 
  broods 
  of 
  young 
  birds, 
  but 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  of 
  the 
  cocks 
  

   taking 
  any 
  part 
  in 
  actually 
  feeding 
  or 
  sheltering 
  the 
  young. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  already 
  mentioned 
  the 
  stringent 
  game-laws 
  of 
  former 
  times. 
  At 
  present, 
  with 
  

   the 
  increasing 
  individualization 
  and 
  lawlessness 
  of 
  the 
  people, 
  enforcement 
  of 
  these 
  laws 
  

   is 
  becoming 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  difficult. 
  At 
  present 
  pheasants 
  can 
  legally 
  be 
  killed 
  only 
  

   from 
  the 
  i 
  st 
  of 
  November 
  to 
  the 
  last 
  day 
  of 
  February. 
  In 
  out-of-the-way 
  districts 
  they 
  are 
  

   shot 
  every 
  month 
  in 
  the 
  year, 
  and 
  the 
  female 
  is 
  often 
  killed 
  while 
  sitting 
  on 
  her 
  eggs. 
  

   The 
  greatest 
  defect 
  in 
  the 
  game-law 
  of 
  Japan 
  lies 
  in 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  no 
  private 
  person 
  is 
  

   permitted 
  to 
  have 
  game-preserves. 
  The 
  Emperor 
  alone 
  has 
  this 
  privilege, 
  the 
  result 
  

   being 
  that 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  season 
  opens 
  licensed 
  gunners 
  overrun 
  the 
  country, 
  shooting 
  

   where 
  they 
  please. 
  

  

  Japan 
  is 
  a 
  land 
  of 
  frequent 
  earthquakes, 
  and 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  thoroughly 
  

   authenticated 
  fact 
  that 
  some 
  time 
  in 
  advance 
  of 
  a 
  shock 
  all 
  the 
  pheasants 
  of 
  a 
  district 
  

   will 
  call 
  loudly, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  manner 
  so 
  unlike 
  the 
  usual 
  rather 
  isolated 
  crowing, 
  that 
  the 
  

   natives 
  can 
  always 
  recognize 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  warning. 
  The 
  preliminary 
  earth 
  tremors, 
  much 
  too 
  

   delicate 
  for 
  perception 
  by 
  our 
  human 
  senses, 
  are 
  detected 
  and 
  reacted 
  to 
  by 
  the 
  

   pheasants, 
  just 
  as 
  the 
  coarser 
  stimuli 
  of 
  thunder 
  or 
  the 
  noise 
  of 
  guns 
  will 
  excite 
  

   pheasants 
  of 
  other 
  kinds 
  to 
  continued 
  vocal 
  utterance. 
  

  

  As 
  the 
  first 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  kind, 
  the 
  description 
  given 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Heine 
  of 
  Perry's 
  

   expedition 
  is 
  of 
  considerable 
  interest. 
  He 
  says: 
  "After 
  the 
  treaty 
  of 
  Yokohama 
  had 
  

   been 
  concluded 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  squadron 
  proceeded 
  to 
  Simoda. 
  A 
  friendly 
  inter- 
  

   course 
  with 
  the 
  natives 
  was 
  established, 
  and 
  I 
  constantly 
  availed 
  myself 
  of 
  Commodore 
  

   Perry's 
  kind 
  permission 
  to 
  make 
  additions 
  to 
  our 
  collections 
  in 
  natural 
  history. 
  One 
  

   morning, 
  at 
  dawn 
  of 
  day, 
  I 
  shouldered 
  my 
  gun 
  and 
  landed 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  specimens 
  of 
  

   birds, 
  and 
  that 
  day 
  had 
  the 
  good 
  fortune 
  to 
  see, 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time, 
  the 
  versicolor 
  

   pheasant. 
  The 
  province 
  Idza, 
  at 
  the 
  southern 
  extremity 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  port 
  of 
  Simoda 
  is 
  

   situated, 
  forms 
  a 
  long 
  neck 
  of 
  land 
  extending 
  from 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Niphon, 
  in 
  a 
  southerly 
  

   direction, 
  and 
  is 
  throughout 
  mountainous, 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  mountains 
  being 
  from 
  four 
  

   thousand 
  to 
  five 
  thousand 
  feet 
  high. 
  The 
  valleys 
  are 
  highly 
  cultivated, 
  presenting 
  in 
  

   the 
  spring 
  a 
  most 
  luxurious 
  landscape. 
  The 
  tops 
  of 
  the 
  mountains 
  and 
  hills 
  are 
  in 
  

   some 
  places 
  composed 
  of 
  barren 
  rocks, 
  and 
  in 
  others 
  covered 
  with 
  grass 
  and 
  shrubs, 
  

   producing 
  an 
  abundance 
  of 
  small 
  berries. 
  Between 
  those 
  higher 
  regions 
  and 
  the 
  fields 
  

   below, 
  the 
  slopes 
  are 
  covered 
  with 
  woods, 
  having, 
  for 
  the 
  greater 
  part, 
  such 
  thick 
  

   undergrowth 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  scarcely 
  possible 
  to 
  penetrate 
  them. 
  Following 
  the 
  beautiful 
  

   valley, 
  at 
  the 
  outlet 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  Simoda 
  stands, 
  for 
  about 
  four 
  miles, 
  I 
  came 
  to 
  

   a 
  place 
  where 
  the 
  Simoda 
  creek 
  divides 
  into 
  two 
  branches. 
  Selecting 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   branch, 
  I 
  soon 
  left 
  fields 
  and 
  houses 
  behind 
  me, 
  and, 
  ascending 
  through 
  a 
  little 
  gulley, 
  

   I 
  emerged 
  from 
  the 
  woods 
  into 
  the 
  barren 
  region. 
  It 
  was 
  yet 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  morning 
  ; 
  

   clouds 
  enveloped 
  the 
  peaks 
  and 
  tops 
  of 
  the 
  hills 
  ; 
  the 
  fields 
  and 
  woods 
  were 
  silent, 
  and 
  

   the 
  distant 
  sound 
  of 
  the 
  surf 
  from 
  the 
  seashore 
  far 
  below, 
  rather 
  increased 
  than 
  lessened 
  

   the 
  impression 
  of 
  deep 
  solitude 
  made 
  upon 
  me 
  by 
  the 
  strange 
  scenery 
  around. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  walk 
  and 
  ascent 
  had 
  fatigued 
  me 
  somewhat 
  ; 
  I 
  had 
  laid 
  down 
  my 
  gun 
  and 
  

   game-bag, 
  and 
  was 
  just 
  stopping 
  to 
  drink 
  from 
  a 
  little 
  spring 
  that 
  trickled 
  from 
  a 
  rock, 
  

   when, 
  not 
  ten 
  yards 
  from 
  me, 
  a 
  large 
  pheasant 
  arose 
  with 
  loud 
  rustling 
  noise, 
  and 
  

   before 
  I 
  had 
  recovered 
  my 
  gun, 
  he 
  had 
  disappeared 
  over 
  the 
  brow 
  of 
  a 
  hill. 
  I 
  felt 
  

  

  