﻿1 
  68 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  the 
  unscientific 
  mental 
  character 
  of 
  most 
  pheasant 
  fanciers 
  that 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  published 
  

   records 
  and 
  accounts 
  of 
  breeding 
  not 
  one 
  describes 
  the 
  eggs, 
  chicks, 
  or 
  the 
  juvenile 
  

   plumage, 
  the 
  courtship, 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  incubation, 
  the 
  moults 
  or 
  the 
  voice 
  either 
  of 
  adult 
  

   or 
  young. 
  Every 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  important 
  phases 
  or 
  habits 
  of 
  life 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  

   with 
  perfect 
  accuracy 
  and 
  completion 
  in 
  any 
  one 
  successful 
  breeding 
  experience. 
  

  

  In 
  1864 
  Copper 
  Pheasants 
  were 
  represented 
  in 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Gardens 
  of 
  London 
  

   and 
  Rotterdam, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Jardin 
  d'Acclimatation 
  in 
  Paris. 
  The 
  following 
  year 
  the 
  

   first 
  egg 
  was 
  laid 
  in 
  the 
  former 
  Zoo, 
  and 
  before 
  1868 
  these 
  birds 
  had 
  bred 
  three 
  

   different 
  times 
  in 
  several 
  European 
  gardens. 
  

  

  Of 
  late 
  years 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  little 
  success 
  in 
  breeding, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  evident 
  that 
  

   this 
  species 
  cannot 
  be 
  perpetuated 
  after 
  it 
  has 
  become 
  extinct 
  in 
  a 
  wild 
  state. 
  The 
  

   wariness 
  and 
  nervousness 
  of 
  the 
  cocks 
  make 
  any 
  successful 
  breeding 
  in 
  captivity 
  a 
  very 
  

   fortunate 
  occurrence. 
  

  

  DETAILED 
  DESCRIPTION 
  

  

  Adult 
  Male. 
  — 
  No 
  two 
  individuals 
  are 
  exactly 
  alike, 
  but 
  the 
  extreme 
  form, 
  

   especially 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  parts 
  of 
  Honda, 
  shows 
  white, 
  or 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  dilution 
  

   with 
  light 
  pigment 
  in 
  every 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  plumage. 
  The 
  head 
  is 
  dull 
  cinnamon 
  ; 
  the 
  neck, 
  

   fore 
  mantle 
  and 
  breast 
  coppery 
  bronze, 
  with 
  paler 
  lateral 
  fringe. 
  The 
  paler 
  colour 
  in 
  the 
  

   hue 
  of 
  yellow 
  gold 
  is 
  sometimes 
  characteristic 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  mantle 
  and 
  back, 
  and 
  represents 
  

   the 
  intermediate 
  stage 
  between 
  the 
  typical 
  soemmerringi 
  dark 
  purple 
  carmine 
  and 
  the 
  

   pure 
  white. 
  

  

  The 
  white 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  and 
  rump 
  is 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  different 
  order 
  from 
  the 
  concentration 
  

   of 
  the 
  same 
  colour 
  in 
  ijimae. 
  In 
  the 
  present 
  form 
  the 
  central 
  terminal 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  feather 
  

   is 
  always 
  copper 
  or 
  gold 
  ; 
  there 
  is 
  never 
  an 
  area 
  of 
  solid 
  white 
  colour, 
  but 
  always 
  an 
  

   impression 
  of 
  streaking, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  lateral 
  limitation 
  of 
  the 
  white. 
  The 
  basal 
  chestnut, 
  

   and 
  usually 
  the 
  still 
  more 
  basal 
  black, 
  are 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  visible. 
  The 
  dorsal 
  feathers 
  

   almost 
  always 
  have 
  a 
  very 
  narrow 
  terminal 
  margin 
  of 
  black. 
  

  

  The 
  middle 
  and 
  greater 
  wing-coverts 
  are 
  broadly 
  margined 
  with 
  buffy 
  white, 
  

   separated 
  from 
  the 
  pale 
  vinous 
  of 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  feather 
  by 
  a 
  narrow 
  line 
  of 
  black. 
  

   The 
  breast 
  is 
  visibly 
  pale 
  vinous, 
  basally 
  mostly 
  black. 
  The 
  lower 
  breast, 
  sides, 
  belly, 
  

   and 
  flanks 
  are 
  pale 
  brown 
  with 
  long 
  terminal 
  fringe 
  of 
  creamy 
  white, 
  a 
  character 
  as 
  

   strong 
  as 
  any 
  in 
  separating 
  the 
  extremes 
  of 
  scintittans 
  from 
  the 
  more 
  southern 
  forms. 
  

  

  The 
  tail 
  shows 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  narrow 
  black 
  bands, 
  each 
  bounded 
  anteriorly 
  by 
  an 
  

   equally 
  narrow 
  one 
  of 
  buffy 
  white, 
  and 
  posteriorly 
  by 
  a 
  broader 
  one 
  of 
  dark 
  chestnut. 
  

   The 
  remaining 
  very 
  wide 
  interspaces 
  are 
  pale 
  rufous, 
  much 
  mottled 
  with 
  black. 
  On 
  the 
  

   lateral 
  tail-feathers 
  the 
  white 
  cross-bar 
  becomes 
  much 
  extended 
  and 
  black 
  mottled 
  on 
  

   the 
  inner 
  web, 
  and 
  disappears 
  altogether 
  from 
  the 
  outer 
  web. 
  The 
  tips 
  of 
  these 
  feathers 
  

   are 
  black. 
  The 
  under 
  tail-coverts 
  are 
  black 
  with 
  a 
  narrow 
  shaft-streak 
  of 
  chestnut. 
  

   Fleshy 
  parts 
  as 
  in 
  soemmerringi. 
  

  

  The 
  measurements 
  on 
  the 
  whole 
  diminish 
  somewhat 
  as 
  we 
  pass 
  northward, 
  but 
  this 
  

   is 
  especially 
  true 
  as 
  regards 
  the 
  tail. 
  The 
  average 
  of 
  twelve 
  specimens 
  from 
  northern 
  

   Honda, 
  living 
  on 
  a 
  high 
  ridge 
  far 
  in 
  the 
  interior, 
  in 
  length 
  of 
  tail 
  was 
  only 
  660 
  mm., 
  

   equal 
  to 
  the 
  minimum 
  measurement 
  of 
  soemmerringi. 
  Instead 
  of 
  some 
  fifteen 
  cross-bars 
  

   these 
  birds 
  had 
  an 
  average 
  of 
  only 
  nine. 
  The 
  reduction 
  in 
  the 
  central 
  rectrices 
  of 
  these 
  

  

  