﻿PHOTOGRAVURE 
  54 
  

  

  HOME 
  OF 
  REEVES'S 
  PHEASANT 
  IN 
  CENTRAL 
  CHINA 
  

  

  The 
  favourite 
  haunt 
  of 
  the 
  Reeves 
  is 
  in 
  certain 
  mid-reaches 
  of 
  the 
  Yangtse, 
  where 
  black, 
  frowning 
  cliffs 
  

   rise 
  sheer 
  hundreds 
  of 
  feet 
  above 
  either 
  bank, 
  covered 
  with 
  gnarled, 
  stunted 
  vegetation 
  which 
  is 
  deformed 
  by 
  

   the 
  elements 
  and 
  scanty 
  nourishment. 
  

  

  Once 
  when 
  a 
  line 
  of 
  beaters 
  was 
  trying 
  to 
  locate 
  a 
  young 
  tiger 
  which 
  had 
  made, 
  a 
  kill, 
  two 
  cock 
  Reeves 
  

   flushed 
  suddenly, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  rose 
  straight 
  ahead, 
  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. 
  

  

  