﻿REEVES'S 
  PHEASANT 
  149 
  

  

  moment 
  the 
  setter, 
  who 
  had 
  passed 
  the 
  wall, 
  was 
  at 
  a 
  'dead 
  set.' 
  I 
  knew 
  there 
  were 
  

   several 
  birds, 
  or 
  some 
  larger 
  game, 
  by 
  the 
  general 
  activity 
  and 
  caution 
  shown 
  by 
  the 
  

   dog. 
  I 
  was 
  soon 
  over 
  the 
  wall, 
  ready 
  for 
  anything. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  surveyed 
  my 
  position 
  in 
  a 
  moment. 
  Below 
  me 
  was 
  long 
  grass, 
  on 
  the 
  ledge 
  I 
  

   had 
  left 
  some 
  thick 
  and 
  high 
  trees, 
  on 
  my 
  right 
  a 
  hill, 
  also 
  with 
  long, 
  rank 
  grass, 
  but 
  no 
  

   wood. 
  I 
  moved 
  forwards 
  a 
  few 
  paces, 
  but 
  the 
  dog 
  was 
  there 
  like 
  a 
  marble 
  statue. 
  I 
  was 
  

   very 
  badly 
  placed, 
  for 
  I 
  could 
  not 
  see 
  where 
  the 
  game 
  could 
  be. 
  Up 
  got 
  six 
  Reeves's 
  

   Pheasants, 
  splendid 
  birds. 
  I 
  felt 
  certain 
  of 
  two. 
  I 
  am 
  sorry 
  to 
  say, 
  however, 
  I 
  only 
  

   succeeded 
  in 
  bagging 
  one, 
  which 
  went 
  rolling 
  down 
  the 
  hill 
  in 
  his 
  last 
  struggles. 
  I 
  

   bounded 
  after 
  him, 
  afraid 
  the 
  dog 
  would 
  mouth 
  the 
  beautiful 
  plumage. 
  The 
  bird 
  I 
  had 
  

   bagged 
  was 
  a 
  cock, 
  measuring 
  5 
  ft. 
  4 
  ins. 
  from 
  the 
  bill 
  to 
  end 
  of 
  tail-feathers. 
  From 
  

   the 
  time 
  I 
  first 
  came 
  on 
  their 
  scent 
  the 
  distance 
  over 
  which 
  I 
  worked 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  

   a 
  mile 
  ; 
  I 
  was, 
  therefore, 
  glad 
  of 
  a 
  rest. 
  The 
  birds 
  had 
  flown 
  in 
  all 
  directions, 
  so 
  

   there 
  was 
  no 
  use 
  marking 
  them. 
  My 
  left 
  barrel 
  had 
  been 
  ineffectually 
  discharged 
  

   at 
  a 
  fine 
  cock, 
  which 
  flew 
  straight 
  across 
  the 
  valley. 
  

  

  " 
  In 
  several 
  widely 
  distant 
  localities 
  these 
  birds 
  have 
  been 
  observed 
  and 
  shot 
  through- 
  

   out 
  the 
  year 
  on 
  the 
  very 
  same 
  slopes, 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  streams 
  of 
  certain 
  small 
  valleys, 
  so 
  

   there 
  seems 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  the 
  Reeves's 
  Pheasant 
  is 
  very 
  decidedly 
  a 
  resident, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   southern 
  portions 
  of 
  its 
  range, 
  at 
  least, 
  exhibiting 
  no 
  tendency 
  even 
  to 
  a 
  seasonal 
  

   altitudinal 
  migration. 
  In 
  the 
  north, 
  its 
  movements 
  are 
  more 
  irregular, 
  and, 
  like 
  those 
  of 
  

   the 
  ring-necked 
  and 
  eared 
  pheasants 
  of 
  that 
  region, 
  governed 
  by 
  snow-fall. 
  The 
  ability 
  

   of 
  this 
  bird 
  to 
  cover 
  very 
  considerable 
  distances 
  in 
  flight 
  enable 
  it 
  to 
  seek 
  a 
  distant 
  

   feeding-ground 
  with 
  great 
  facility, 
  and 
  to 
  return 
  as 
  speedily. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  know 
  of 
  no 
  record 
  of 
  its 
  occurring 
  at 
  less 
  than 
  a 
  thousand 
  feet 
  above 
  sea-level, 
  

   and 
  usually 
  the 
  valleys 
  or 
  mountain 
  slopes 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  found 
  are 
  over 
  two 
  thousand 
  feet 
  

   high. 
  From 
  this 
  altitude 
  it 
  ranges 
  upward 
  to 
  six 
  thousand 
  feet. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  Reeves's 
  Pheasant 
  keeps 
  together 
  in 
  families 
  or 
  small 
  flocks 
  during 
  the 
  winter, 
  

   the 
  attraction 
  being 
  a 
  true 
  social 
  instinct, 
  and 
  not 
  accidental 
  association 
  due 
  to 
  local 
  

   abundance 
  of 
  food. 
  In 
  the 
  spring 
  the 
  birds 
  separate, 
  and 
  from 
  all 
  the 
  facts 
  I 
  can 
  gather 
  

   I 
  should 
  be 
  inclined 
  to 
  think 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  are 
  monogamous 
  usually, 
  but 
  that 
  occasionally 
  

   two 
  hens 
  are 
  mated 
  to 
  a 
  cock. 
  Trios 
  of 
  adult 
  birds 
  accompanied 
  by 
  half-grown 
  young- 
  

   have 
  been 
  seen 
  by 
  travellers 
  in 
  China 
  several 
  times, 
  and 
  yet 
  my 
  experience 
  with 
  birds 
  in 
  

   captivity 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  monogamous 
  state 
  is 
  more 
  normal. 
  This 
  latter 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  important 
  

   bit 
  of 
  evidence, 
  as 
  captivity 
  always 
  tends 
  to 
  break 
  down 
  any 
  natural 
  monogamy 
  in 
  birds." 
  

  

  W. 
  R. 
  Zappey 
  writes 
  me 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  stomachs 
  of 
  these 
  pheasants 
  he 
  has 
  found 
  

   cultivated 
  beans, 
  acorns, 
  wild 
  persimmons, 
  turnips, 
  bits 
  of 
  cabbage 
  and 
  lily 
  bulbs, 
  these 
  

   birds 
  having 
  been 
  trapped 
  near 
  outlying 
  villages. 
  

  

  The 
  alarm 
  cry 
  of 
  the 
  Reeves 
  is 
  a 
  penetrating, 
  high 
  cry, 
  uttered 
  as 
  loudly 
  by 
  the 
  

   female 
  as 
  the 
  male. 
  

  

  The 
  call-note 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  as 
  heard 
  in 
  captivity 
  is 
  very 
  unlike 
  the 
  voice 
  of 
  a 
  game- 
  

   bird, 
  and 
  until 
  one 
  actually 
  sees 
  the 
  bird 
  in 
  the 
  act 
  of 
  utterance, 
  it 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  believe 
  

   that 
  such 
  a 
  sound 
  proceeds 
  from 
  so 
  large 
  a 
  bird. 
  It 
  is 
  exactly 
  like 
  the 
  simple 
  song 
  of 
  

   some 
  small 
  passerine 
  bird, 
  given 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  high 
  piping 
  key, 
  and 
  occasionally 
  with 
  a 
  

   trilling 
  quality 
  which 
  enhances 
  the 
  resemblance. 
  This 
  high 
  note 
  is 
  repeated 
  rapidly 
  

   from 
  six 
  to 
  twenty 
  times, 
  musically 
  and 
  sweetly, 
  so 
  that 
  one 
  instinctively 
  looks 
  among 
  

  

  