﻿SCINTILLATING 
  COPPER 
  PHEASANT 
  167 
  

  

  the 
  hen 
  takes 
  them 
  some 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  nest, 
  and 
  I 
  learned 
  in 
  one 
  instance 
  at 
  least 
  

   that 
  even 
  if 
  the 
  last 
  egg 
  was 
  chipped 
  at 
  noon, 
  that 
  very 
  night 
  the 
  brood 
  would 
  be 
  

   hovered 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  yards 
  away. 
  In 
  this 
  case 
  the 
  last-hatched 
  weakling 
  was 
  left 
  

   to 
  his 
  fate. 
  This 
  habit 
  of 
  leaving 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  nest 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  possible 
  is 
  a 
  wide- 
  

   spread 
  one 
  among 
  gallinaceous 
  birds. 
  It 
  may, 
  perhaps, 
  best 
  be 
  explained 
  by 
  the 
  added 
  

   danger 
  which 
  would 
  result 
  from 
  the 
  odour 
  of 
  blood 
  and 
  egg 
  liquids. 
  A 
  passing 
  fox 
  or 
  

   other 
  animal 
  would 
  nose 
  out 
  such 
  a 
  tell-tale 
  scent 
  from 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  many 
  yards, 
  where 
  

   the 
  day 
  before 
  he 
  might 
  have 
  passed 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  sitting 
  hen 
  and 
  her 
  unhatched 
  eggs 
  

   without 
  detecting 
  a 
  particle 
  of 
  odour. 
  

  

  The 
  young 
  birds 
  grow 
  rapidly, 
  and 
  by 
  November 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  hardly 
  

   distinguishable 
  from 
  their 
  parents. 
  Apparently 
  only 
  a 
  single 
  brood 
  is 
  reared, 
  although 
  

   from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  occasionally 
  birds 
  of 
  younger 
  growth 
  are 
  shot 
  in 
  the 
  autumn, 
  a 
  second 
  

   laying 
  probably 
  takes 
  place 
  when 
  the 
  first 
  is 
  accidentally 
  destroyed. 
  The 
  male 
  bird 
  has 
  

   been 
  seen 
  associating 
  day 
  after 
  day 
  with 
  a 
  single 
  hen 
  and 
  her 
  brood, 
  evidence 
  of 
  some 
  

   weight 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  monogamy. 
  The 
  hen 
  and 
  her 
  brood 
  roost 
  together 
  throughout 
  the 
  

   autumn 
  and 
  winter. 
  

  

  RELATION 
  TO 
  MAN 
  

  

  Pheasants 
  in 
  Japan 
  do 
  not 
  suffer 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  from 
  systematic 
  trapping 
  as 
  in 
  

   many 
  other 
  countries, 
  and 
  Copper 
  Pheasants 
  are 
  even 
  more 
  immune 
  than 
  the 
  green 
  

   pheasants, 
  owing 
  to 
  their 
  haunts 
  being 
  more 
  inaccessible 
  and 
  farther 
  removed 
  from 
  the 
  

   vicinity 
  of 
  villages 
  and 
  hamlets. 
  Yamadori 
  seem 
  never 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  

   the 
  latter, 
  owing 
  perhaps 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  factor 
  of 
  lack 
  of 
  adaptation 
  to 
  the 
  advance 
  of 
  

   mankind. 
  

  

  Yamadori 
  are 
  protected 
  by 
  law, 
  as 
  they 
  can 
  legally 
  be 
  killed 
  only 
  from 
  the 
  1st 
  of 
  

   November 
  to 
  the 
  last 
  day 
  of 
  February. 
  But 
  the 
  law 
  can 
  hardly 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  enforced. 
  

   Poaching 
  is 
  very 
  widespread, 
  and 
  the 
  police 
  are 
  almost 
  helpless 
  to 
  cope 
  with 
  infringe- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  this 
  law. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  defects 
  of 
  the 
  Japanese 
  game 
  laws 
  is 
  the 
  one 
  

   which 
  prohibits 
  private 
  preserves. 
  The 
  Emperor 
  alone 
  is 
  allowed 
  to 
  possess 
  estates 
  

   on 
  which 
  public 
  shooting 
  is 
  forbidden. 
  Thus 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  season 
  licensed 
  gunners 
  in 
  

   great 
  numbers 
  wander 
  over 
  all 
  the 
  more 
  accessible 
  of 
  the 
  pheasants' 
  haunts. 
  The 
  

   Copper 
  Pheasants 
  are 
  driven 
  down 
  from 
  the 
  mountains 
  by 
  the 
  snow 
  in 
  January 
  and 
  

   February, 
  and 
  thus 
  many 
  scores 
  fall 
  to 
  the 
  guns 
  which 
  otherwise 
  would 
  escape 
  with 
  

   safety 
  at 
  the 
  higher 
  elevations. 
  

  

  The 
  same 
  remarks 
  apply 
  to 
  the 
  killing 
  of 
  pheasants 
  for 
  millinery 
  purposes, 
  the 
  

   Copper 
  Pheasants 
  suffering 
  to 
  a 
  less 
  extent 
  only 
  because 
  of 
  their 
  fewer 
  numbers 
  and 
  

   greater 
  isolation. 
  This, 
  much 
  more 
  than 
  killing 
  for 
  the 
  market, 
  is 
  causing 
  the 
  thinning 
  

   out 
  of 
  the 
  birds. 
  Many 
  so-called 
  Japanese 
  sportsmen, 
  I 
  am 
  told, 
  are 
  really 
  pot-hunters, 
  

   and 
  with 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  make 
  of 
  guns 
  and 
  well-trained 
  dogs, 
  they 
  reap 
  a 
  rich 
  annual 
  

   harvest. 
  Such 
  a 
  hunter 
  will 
  shoot 
  a 
  cock 
  pheasant, 
  eat 
  the 
  flesh 
  or 
  sell 
  it 
  for 
  twenty 
  

   sen 
  (ten 
  cents, 
  or 
  fivepence), 
  and 
  sell 
  the 
  skin 
  to 
  a 
  feather 
  dealer 
  for 
  half 
  a 
  yen 
  (twenty- 
  

   five 
  cents, 
  or 
  a 
  shilling). 
  

  

  CAPTIVITY 
  

  

  The 
  captivity 
  records 
  of 
  soemmerringi 
  and 
  scintillans 
  are 
  so 
  inextricably 
  mixed 
  that 
  

   there 
  is 
  no 
  use 
  in 
  attempting 
  to 
  separate 
  them. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  most 
  mortifying 
  commentary 
  on 
  

  

  