﻿ELLIOT'S 
  BARRED-BACKED 
  PHEASANT 
  193 
  

  

  bird's 
  only 
  way 
  of 
  escape. 
  The 
  pheasant, 
  however, 
  unquestionably 
  had 
  his 
  own 
  good 
  

   reasons 
  for 
  his 
  reversed 
  position. 
  As 
  I 
  slipped 
  away, 
  the 
  grave 
  was 
  beginning 
  to 
  be 
  

   silvered 
  by 
  the 
  moon, 
  and 
  I 
  left 
  the 
  living 
  bird 
  and 
  the 
  carven 
  phcenix 
  side 
  by 
  side. 
  

  

  A 
  correspondent 
  living 
  near 
  Mokanshan, 
  Chekiang, 
  writes 
  me 
  that 
  in 
  that 
  vicinity 
  

   the 
  natives 
  have 
  no 
  guns 
  and 
  do 
  little 
  trapping, 
  but 
  locate 
  the 
  roosts 
  of 
  pheasants 
  and 
  go 
  

   out 
  in 
  crowds 
  armed 
  with 
  clubs 
  and 
  kill 
  the 
  birds 
  sitting 
  or 
  flying, 
  occasionally 
  getting 
  

   an 
  Elliot 
  Pheasant 
  by 
  this 
  crude, 
  barbarous 
  method. 
  

  

  The 
  half-hearted 
  battle 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  related 
  as 
  taking 
  place 
  between 
  an 
  Elliot 
  and 
  

   a 
  ring-neck 
  cock 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  association 
  observed 
  between 
  the 
  former 
  and 
  any 
  other 
  bird 
  

   or 
  animal. 
  Elliot's 
  Pheasants 
  seem 
  to 
  keep 
  to 
  themselves, 
  as 
  independent 
  as 
  they 
  

   are 
  wary. 
  

  

  Our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  home 
  life 
  of 
  Elliot's 
  Pheasant 
  is 
  confined 
  to 
  observations 
  on 
  

   captive 
  birds. 
  Its 
  relation 
  to 
  mankind 
  may 
  be 
  summed 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  birds 
  roosting 
  on 
  his 
  

   graves, 
  making 
  an 
  occasional 
  meal 
  from 
  his 
  rice-fields, 
  and 
  being 
  in 
  return 
  trapped 
  and 
  

   eaten. 
  It 
  is 
  too 
  rare 
  and 
  wary 
  a 
  bird 
  to 
  figure 
  often 
  in 
  the 
  menu 
  of 
  a 
  Chinese 
  farmer, 
  

   and 
  unless 
  its 
  range 
  extends 
  well 
  into 
  Kiangsi 
  its 
  future 
  as 
  a 
  wild 
  bird 
  cannot 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  

   be 
  hopeful. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  courtship 
  season 
  these 
  birds 
  beat 
  the 
  air 
  with 
  their 
  wings 
  much 
  

   like 
  the 
  silver 
  pheasant. 
  The 
  note 
  following 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  rapidly 
  uttered 
  cock-cock-cock- 
  

   cock-cock 
  ! 
  When 
  picking 
  up 
  grain 
  the 
  cock 
  will 
  often 
  call 
  the 
  hen 
  in 
  a 
  low 
  voice, 
  and, 
  

   as 
  she 
  approaches, 
  will 
  spread 
  his 
  tail 
  and 
  flatten 
  the 
  plumage 
  generally 
  in 
  her 
  direction, 
  

   the 
  wattles 
  meanwhile 
  swelling 
  appreciably. 
  

  

  CAPTIVITY 
  

  

  Pere 
  David, 
  in 
  1874, 
  brought 
  the 
  first 
  living 
  specimens 
  of 
  Elliot's 
  Pheasants 
  to 
  

   Europe, 
  and 
  deposited 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  Jardin 
  des 
  Plantes. 
  Here 
  they 
  thrived 
  and 
  bred, 
  

   and 
  eight 
  years 
  later 
  a 
  trio 
  of 
  young 
  birds 
  was 
  purchased 
  by 
  the 
  London 
  Zoological 
  

   Society. 
  Since 
  then 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  bred 
  in 
  many 
  zoological 
  gardens 
  and 
  by 
  private 
  

   individuals, 
  and 
  are 
  almost 
  always 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  offered 
  for 
  sale 
  by 
  the 
  larger 
  dealers. 
  

   Their 
  fecundity 
  in 
  captivity 
  is 
  very 
  encouraging, 
  and 
  while 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  adapt 
  

   themselves 
  very 
  well 
  to 
  acclimatization 
  on 
  large 
  estates, 
  yet 
  it 
  is 
  probable 
  that, 
  after 
  they 
  

   are 
  exterminated 
  in 
  the 
  wild 
  state, 
  the 
  species 
  may 
  be 
  perpetuated 
  in 
  captivity. 
  They 
  

   seldom 
  become 
  really 
  tame, 
  and 
  must 
  be 
  treated 
  with 
  especial 
  care 
  as 
  regards 
  any 
  sudden 
  

   alarm, 
  as 
  at 
  such 
  a 
  time 
  all 
  restraint 
  is 
  forgotten 
  and 
  the 
  birds 
  dash 
  about 
  wildly. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  country 
  Elliot's 
  Pheasants 
  begin 
  to 
  lay 
  in 
  late 
  March 
  or 
  early 
  April, 
  and 
  the 
  

   average 
  number 
  of 
  eggs 
  to 
  each 
  hen 
  is 
  ten 
  or 
  eleven. 
  The 
  birds 
  do 
  better 
  if 
  paired 
  

   singly, 
  indicating 
  a 
  feral 
  monogamy, 
  and 
  while 
  the 
  hen 
  is 
  sitting 
  the 
  cock 
  remains 
  

   constantly 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  nest. 
  The 
  incubation 
  is 
  from 
  twenty-four 
  to 
  twenty- 
  

   five 
  days. 
  Three 
  out 
  of 
  four 
  hens 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  observed 
  for 
  several 
  successive 
  years 
  

   have 
  built 
  quite 
  substantial 
  nests 
  of 
  straw, 
  bringing 
  it 
  from 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  several 
  yards 
  

   and 
  arranging 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  hollow 
  which 
  they 
  had 
  scraped 
  out 
  with 
  beak 
  and 
  claws 
  in 
  the 
  

   ground, 
  under 
  the 
  shelter 
  of 
  an 
  evergreen 
  tree. 
  

  

  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  broad 
  ovals, 
  with 
  considerable 
  gloss. 
  They 
  vary 
  from 
  creamy 
  white 
  

   to 
  a 
  dull 
  salmon 
  colour, 
  often 
  with 
  tiny 
  white 
  dots 
  of 
  lime 
  in 
  the 
  deeper 
  pores 
  of 
  the 
  

   shell. 
  They 
  measure 
  33 
  mm. 
  in 
  breadth 
  by 
  42 
  in 
  length. 
  

  

  vol. 
  in 
  c 
  c 
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