﻿H4 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  distinct 
  in 
  pigmentation 
  from 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  ventral 
  surface 
  ; 
  the 
  mantle 
  never 
  with 
  

   white 
  or 
  pale 
  shaft-streaks. 
  

  

  The 
  disintegrated, 
  hair-like 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  rump 
  feathers 
  in 
  the 
  males 
  of 
  true 
  

   Phasianus 
  becomes 
  an 
  important 
  character 
  when 
  the 
  soemmerringi 
  group 
  is 
  removed. 
  

   This 
  is 
  wholly 
  absent 
  from 
  the 
  copper 
  pheasants 
  and 
  from 
  Syrmaticus 
  as 
  I 
  define 
  it. 
  

   As 
  to 
  intra-generic 
  differences: 
  (i) 
  reevesi 
  and 
  soemmerringi 
  have 
  eighteen 
  rectrices, 
  

   while 
  humiae, 
  ellioti 
  and 
  mikado 
  possess 
  sixteen. 
  In 
  this 
  instance 
  the 
  remarkable 
  

   resemblance 
  between 
  the 
  females 
  certainly 
  is 
  a 
  more 
  fundamental 
  and 
  important 
  

   character 
  than 
  the 
  difference 
  of 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  tail 
  feathers, 
  when, 
  to 
  quote 
  but 
  a 
  single 
  

   illustration, 
  we 
  recall 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  genus 
  Gal/us, 
  varius 
  possesses 
  one 
  pair 
  of 
  rectrices 
  

   more 
  than 
  gallus. 
  (2) 
  The 
  extreme 
  difference 
  in 
  colour 
  of 
  the 
  males 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  

   militate 
  against 
  uniting 
  them 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  genus, 
  until 
  we 
  consider 
  the 
  parallel 
  case 
  of 
  

   Chrysolophus, 
  where 
  the 
  Golden 
  and 
  Anherst 
  males 
  present 
  quite 
  as 
  diverse 
  colours 
  and 
  

   patterns. 
  The 
  genus 
  Syrmaticus, 
  as 
  I 
  define 
  it, 
  seems 
  a 
  logical 
  assemblage 
  of 
  forms, 
  

   fulfilling 
  our 
  generic 
  law 
  of 
  geographic 
  distribution, 
  capable 
  certainly 
  of 
  subgeneric 
  

   division, 
  but 
  on 
  the 
  whole 
  differing 
  in 
  no 
  more 
  important 
  characters 
  than 
  occur 
  in 
  other 
  

   phasianine 
  genera. 
  

  

  