﻿ISO 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  the 
  branches 
  for 
  some 
  small 
  songster, 
  instead 
  of 
  to 
  this 
  great 
  pheasant, 
  measuring 
  over 
  

   six 
  feet 
  in 
  length. 
  

  

  The 
  Chinese 
  trap 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  snares, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  in 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  pit, 
  over 
  which 
  

   fits 
  a 
  lid 
  of 
  brush, 
  and 
  when 
  the 
  trigger 
  is 
  set 
  free 
  this 
  descends 
  rapidly 
  and 
  crashes 
  

   down 
  upon 
  the 
  bird, 
  engulfing 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  pit 
  beneath. 
  They 
  are 
  occasionally 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  

   markets, 
  both 
  dead 
  and 
  alive, 
  in 
  Pekin 
  and 
  Hankow. 
  Many 
  people 
  have 
  praised 
  the 
  

   flesh 
  of 
  the 
  wild 
  birds, 
  esteeming 
  it 
  above 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  common 
  pheasants. 
  

  

  More 
  than 
  once 
  I 
  saw 
  tail-feathers 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  stuck 
  into 
  the 
  caps 
  or 
  hair 
  of 
  

   Chinese, 
  but 
  only 
  as 
  an 
  ornament 
  and 
  without 
  any 
  particular 
  significance. 
  The 
  longest 
  

   tail-feathers 
  are 
  used 
  in 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  China 
  as 
  decorations 
  in 
  the 
  head-gear 
  of 
  actors 
  

   when 
  these 
  are 
  playing 
  military 
  parts. 
  Temminck 
  was 
  apparently 
  mistaken 
  when 
  he 
  

   named 
  this 
  bird 
  veueratus, 
  being 
  under 
  the 
  impression 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  sacred 
  bird 
  of 
  the 
  

   Chinese, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  unlikely 
  that 
  it 
  played 
  any 
  part 
  whatever 
  in 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  Phoenix. 
  

  

  The 
  Mongolians 
  think, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  blood 
  of 
  the 
  Reeves 
  possesses 
  extremely 
  

   poisonous 
  properties. 
  They 
  have 
  a 
  belief 
  that 
  when 
  Mandarins 
  consider 
  that 
  their 
  

   rank 
  and 
  life 
  are 
  in 
  danger, 
  as 
  of 
  being 
  put 
  to 
  death 
  by 
  order 
  of 
  the 
  Emperor, 
  

   these 
  officials 
  dip 
  a 
  corner 
  of 
  a 
  handkerchief 
  in 
  the 
  blood 
  of 
  this 
  bird, 
  so 
  that 
  in 
  

   dire 
  extremity 
  they 
  may 
  commit 
  suicide 
  by 
  sucking 
  this 
  dried 
  blood. 
  

  

  Two 
  travellers 
  have 
  told 
  me 
  of 
  seeing 
  the 
  dried 
  bodies 
  of 
  these 
  pheasants 
  swaying 
  

   from 
  a 
  tall 
  bamboo, 
  wings 
  and 
  tail 
  blowing 
  in 
  the 
  breeze, 
  and 
  serving 
  as 
  a 
  scarecrow 
  to 
  

   frighten 
  away 
  other 
  pheasants. 
  

  

  The 
  only 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  finding 
  of 
  the 
  nest 
  and 
  eggs 
  of 
  Reeves's 
  Pheasant 
  is 
  that 
  

   related 
  to 
  me 
  by 
  Dr. 
  F. 
  R. 
  Clifton. 
  He 
  was 
  tiger-shooting 
  within 
  a 
  few 
  days' 
  march 
  of 
  

   Ichang. 
  One 
  day, 
  when 
  out 
  .with 
  a 
  line 
  of 
  beaters 
  trying 
  to 
  locate 
  a 
  young 
  tiger 
  which 
  

   had 
  just 
  made 
  a 
  kill, 
  two 
  male 
  Reeves 
  were 
  flushed, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  rose 
  straight 
  ahead 
  

   and 
  went 
  high 
  up 
  over 
  the 
  pines, 
  while 
  the 
  other 
  bird 
  doubled 
  back 
  suddenly 
  and 
  shot 
  

   past 
  with 
  terrific 
  speed, 
  dodging 
  the 
  beaters 
  and 
  the 
  trunks 
  of 
  the 
  trees 
  with 
  such 
  sharp 
  

   turns 
  that 
  the 
  long, 
  flowing 
  tail-feathers 
  seemed 
  fairly 
  to 
  curl 
  around 
  the 
  trunks 
  as 
  the 
  

   bird 
  veered 
  past. 
  The 
  hillside 
  did 
  not 
  have 
  a 
  very 
  steep 
  slope 
  at 
  this 
  point, 
  and 
  was 
  

   covered 
  with 
  a 
  sparse 
  growth 
  of 
  pines, 
  varied 
  with 
  open 
  spaces 
  of 
  grass, 
  dwarf 
  bamboo, 
  

   and 
  occasional 
  clumps 
  of 
  azaleas 
  with 
  blossoms, 
  both 
  pink 
  and 
  deep 
  scarlet. 
  

  

  As 
  Clifton 
  and 
  his 
  men 
  encircled 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  azalea 
  thickets, 
  a 
  large-sized 
  bird 
  

   ran 
  swiftly 
  away 
  through 
  the 
  grass, 
  and 
  the 
  next 
  moment 
  the 
  heavy 
  sole 
  of 
  the 
  hunter's 
  

   shoe 
  crashed 
  into 
  the 
  very 
  heart 
  of 
  a 
  nestful 
  of 
  eggs. 
  There 
  were 
  seven 
  all 
  told, 
  only 
  

   two 
  of 
  which 
  survived 
  the 
  catastrophe, 
  although 
  an 
  eighth 
  was 
  later 
  found 
  two 
  feet 
  away 
  

   from 
  the 
  nest. 
  They 
  were 
  deposited 
  in 
  a 
  mere 
  shallow 
  depression 
  without 
  any 
  lining, 
  

   even 
  dead 
  leaves 
  were 
  absent, 
  and 
  the 
  embryos 
  were 
  well 
  formed, 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  outlying 
  

   tgg, 
  which 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  incubated. 
  

  

  The 
  eggs 
  of 
  Reeves's 
  Pheasant 
  vary 
  considerably 
  in 
  colour, 
  being 
  usually 
  what 
  

   the 
  French 
  call 
  mastic 
  or 
  putty 
  colour, 
  many 
  shells, 
  however, 
  being 
  olive 
  brown 
  or 
  

   olive 
  cream. 
  They 
  are 
  of 
  a 
  broad, 
  blunt, 
  oval 
  shape, 
  averaging 
  37 
  x 
  46 
  mm. 
  

  

  CAPTIVITY 
  AND 
  ACCLIMATIZATION 
  

   Long 
  before 
  Reeves's 
  Pheasant 
  had 
  been 
  described 
  or 
  even 
  depicted 
  in 
  ornitho- 
  

   logical 
  literature, 
  when 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  it 
  was 
  confined 
  to 
  Chinese 
  drawings 
  and 
  to 
  

  

  