﻿PLATE 
  LXIII 
  

  

  SOEMMRRRING'S 
  COPPER 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Syrmatictis 
  soemmerringt 
  soemmerringi 
  (Temminck) 
  

  

  Like 
  the 
  architecture 
  of 
  the 
  Japanese, 
  the 
  solitary 
  majesty 
  of 
  Fuji, 
  the 
  beauty 
  of 
  the 
  cherry-blossoms, 
  

   the 
  delicacy 
  of 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  tori 
  — 
  this 
  pheasant 
  seems 
  a 
  thing 
  of 
  unusual 
  beauty. 
  

  

  As 
  we 
  see 
  it 
  beside 
  a 
  stream, 
  or 
  silhouetted 
  against 
  the 
  misty 
  grey 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  snow-covered 
  mountain, 
  

   it 
  fairly 
  glows 
  as 
  a 
  mass 
  of 
  purplish 
  carmine, 
  changing 
  at 
  every 
  turn 
  to 
  fiery 
  gold. 
  Its 
  vitality 
  is 
  tremendous, 
  

   and 
  when 
  a 
  half-dozen 
  cocks 
  bouquet 
  with 
  a 
  roar 
  of 
  wings 
  from 
  a 
  plot 
  of 
  dry 
  grass, 
  the 
  other 
  beauties 
  of 
  

   Nippon 
  are 
  eclipsed. 
  

  

  