﻿1 
  64 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  My 
  glasses 
  show 
  even 
  her 
  beady 
  eyes, 
  and 
  well 
  concealed 
  and 
  distant 
  as 
  I 
  am, 
  

   I 
  know 
  she 
  has 
  spied 
  me 
  out 
  and 
  her 
  glance 
  never 
  for 
  a 
  moment 
  wavers. 
  I 
  am 
  

   delighted 
  to 
  recognize 
  her 
  as 
  a 
  Soemmerring 
  hen, 
  not 
  the 
  more 
  abundant 
  green 
  

   pheasant. 
  Once 
  I 
  hear 
  her 
  mate 
  call, 
  but 
  only 
  once, 
  and 
  though 
  I 
  wait 
  long 
  he 
  

   does 
  not 
  appear. 
  

  

  Soon 
  the 
  air 
  is 
  filled 
  with 
  strange 
  sounds. 
  The 
  distant 
  booming 
  of 
  guns, 
  the 
  shrill 
  

   blast 
  of 
  a 
  bugle, 
  a 
  sudden 
  united 
  chorus 
  of 
  yells, 
  and 
  then, 
  through 
  an 
  opening 
  vista, 
  

   I 
  catch 
  the 
  glint 
  of 
  steel 
  from 
  sword 
  or 
  bayonets. 
  Then 
  a 
  troop 
  of 
  cavalry 
  dashes 
  past, 
  

   unseen 
  but 
  with 
  loud 
  thud 
  of 
  hoofs, 
  and 
  I 
  realize 
  that 
  we, 
  the 
  sitting 
  pheasant 
  

   and 
  myself, 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  centre 
  of 
  a 
  sham 
  battle. 
  For 
  a 
  half-hour 
  the 
  hubbub 
  continues, 
  

   and 
  then 
  the 
  seat 
  of 
  war 
  shifts 
  and 
  we 
  are 
  left 
  again 
  in 
  peace. 
  

  

  Finally 
  I 
  take 
  my 
  leave, 
  quietly, 
  without 
  further 
  intrusion, 
  and 
  slip 
  away 
  as 
  dusk 
  

   is 
  closing 
  down. 
  The 
  following 
  day 
  I 
  return 
  and 
  photograph 
  the 
  nest, 
  and 
  watch 
  until 
  

   the 
  bird 
  returns 
  again 
  to 
  her 
  home. 
  Nothing 
  of 
  tragedy 
  came 
  to 
  this 
  pheasant 
  while 
  I 
  

   remained 
  in 
  this 
  region. 
  Isolated 
  from 
  the 
  world 
  by 
  armed 
  men, 
  she 
  was 
  perfectly 
  safe, 
  

   for 
  their 
  guns 
  were 
  made 
  for 
  bigger 
  game 
  than 
  her 
  slim 
  body. 
  Her 
  chicks 
  may 
  even 
  

   now 
  be 
  calling 
  from 
  the 
  wonderful 
  valleys 
  which 
  stretch 
  far 
  up 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  sacred 
  

   mountain 
  of 
  Fuji. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  Honda 
  may 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  centre 
  of 
  distribution 
  of 
  this 
  form, 
  extending 
  from 
  

   well 
  up 
  on 
  the 
  slopes 
  of 
  even 
  the 
  highest 
  mountains 
  to 
  the 
  very 
  sea 
  coast. 
  It 
  is, 
  

   however, 
  as 
  we 
  shall 
  see, 
  not 
  nearly 
  as 
  common 
  on 
  the 
  low-lying 
  coastal 
  areas 
  as 
  among 
  

   the 
  hilly 
  central 
  regions, 
  being 
  replaced 
  in 
  the 
  former 
  zone 
  by 
  the 
  green 
  pheasant 
  

   [Phasianus 
  versicolor). 
  In 
  Kiusiu 
  it 
  occurs 
  in 
  the 
  north-west, 
  and 
  eastward 
  to 
  the 
  

   central 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  island. 
  To 
  the 
  south-east 
  it 
  merges 
  into 
  soemmerringi, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   south-west 
  into 
  ijimae. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  The 
  Scintillating 
  Copper 
  Pheasant, 
  although 
  the 
  most 
  widely 
  distributed 
  of 
  all 
  its 
  

   forms, 
  yet 
  shows 
  a 
  decided 
  preference 
  for 
  certain 
  types 
  of 
  country. 
  Its 
  range 
  coincides 
  

   closely 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  green 
  pheasant, 
  but 
  when 
  it 
  comes 
  to 
  particular 
  localities 
  the 
  two 
  

   species 
  more 
  often 
  divide 
  the 
  country 
  between 
  them 
  than 
  share 
  it. 
  The 
  latter 
  haunts 
  

   the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  cultivation, 
  and 
  depends 
  for 
  much 
  of 
  its 
  food 
  upon 
  the 
  grain 
  and 
  other 
  

   crops 
  of 
  the 
  Japanese 
  farmer. 
  The 
  Copper 
  Pheasants, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  keep 
  away 
  as 
  

   much 
  as 
  possible 
  from 
  all 
  signs 
  of 
  human 
  habitation, 
  and 
  although 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  wholly 
  

   possible 
  in 
  these 
  small, 
  densely 
  populated 
  islands, 
  yet 
  the 
  general 
  statement 
  holds 
  

   true. 
  

  

  Especially 
  in 
  the 
  warmer 
  months 
  these 
  birds 
  keep 
  to 
  the 
  hilly 
  and 
  mountainous 
  

   districts, 
  especially 
  where 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  abundance 
  of 
  well-grown 
  forest 
  with 
  thick 
  under- 
  

   growth 
  of 
  low 
  bamboos 
  and 
  other 
  vegetation. 
  Wherever, 
  in 
  Honda, 
  densely 
  wooded 
  

   rough 
  hillsides 
  are 
  found 
  with 
  valleys 
  watered 
  by 
  a 
  running 
  stream, 
  we 
  may 
  be 
  fairly 
  

   certain 
  of 
  finding 
  Copper 
  Pheasants. 
  

  

  Unlike 
  their 
  relation 
  ijimae 
  in 
  Kiusiu, 
  these 
  northern 
  birds 
  never 
  descend 
  to 
  

   cultivated 
  fields 
  while 
  the 
  weather 
  permits 
  them 
  to 
  remain 
  at 
  higher 
  altitudes, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  

  

  