394 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Pheasants 



The noble species which is intermediate between 

 the true jungle-fowls and the pheasants is larger 

 than the domestic game breed, and stands peculiarly 

 high on the legs, which are strong, and in the male 

 armed with sharp spurs ; there are no long hackle- 

 feathers on the neck ; and the head, adorned with a 

 crest of naked shafted feathers expanded at their 

 tips into slender spreading barbs, is destitute both 

 of comb and wattles. The sides of the head, from 

 the base of the beak to the occiput, are covered with 

 a naked purplish skin, encircling the eyes: the 

 general plumage is black, shot, with gleaming steel- 

 blue ; the lower part of the back is rich orange-red 

 or flame-colour, and this colour extends zone-like 

 round the body, but becomes obscure on the abdo- 

 men ; tail-coverts broad, of a rich glossy bluish green, 

 with a paler bar at the tip: the four middle tail- 

 feathers, and the two central bending ones (which 

 are really developed tail-coverts in the males of the 

 fowl tribe), are white, the rest black with green 

 reflexions. 



The female, Fig. 1736, has her plumage of a rich 

 cinnamon brown, the feathers of the upper parts 

 being slightly mottled with black; the throat is 

 white, and the feathers of the under parts, which 

 are paler than those of the back, are edged with 

 white ; head crested ; tail folded as in the fowl. 



This species is a native of Sumatra, and was first, 

 introduced to science by Sir George Staunton, in the 

 narrative of his ' Embassy to China.' His host at 

 Batavia, among other interesting specimens of natu- 

 ral history, possessed one of this bird, which was pre- 

 sented to Sir G. Staunton 5 it was sent to England 

 and described by Shaw. As its tail was mutilated, 

 the figure (No. 13, Atlas to the work of Sir G. Staun- 

 ton) is so managed as to leave the form of the tail 

 undetermined. Fine specimens are in the Museum 

 of the Zool. Soc. The bending feathers of the tail 

 are shorter and much broader than those of the 

 jungle-cocks G. Bankiva and G. Sonneratii, or of 

 the ordinary domestic cock. 



Advancing to the true pheasants, we may observe 

 that they differ in many points from the jungle-fowls 

 (Gallus). The head is destitute of a comb, the tail 

 is long, more or less drooping, and composed of long 

 gently arching feathers, of which the middle exceed 

 the rest ; the legs of the male are armed with spurs. 

 The pheasant has little in his port of the upright 

 gallant bearing of the jungle-cock, or game cock ; 

 his attitude is more crouching, and the whole figure 

 lower and more elongated. The common pheasant 

 (Phasianus Colchicus) is too well known to require 

 description. It is naturalized in our country and 

 throughout a great portion of the European conti- 

 nent, but is originally from Mingrelia and Georgia, 

 anciently Colchis. It is said to be common in Tar- 

 tary and some parts of China. Its introduction 

 into Europe was ascribed by the ancients to Jason, 

 wha conducted the Argonautic expedition to Colchis 

 (b.c. 937, Newton ; b.c. 1263, Blair). Be this as it 

 may, the Greek name of the bird (pa<navbs (Latinized 

 Phasianus), and the origin of its modern European 

 names, indicates the banks of the river Phasis (the 

 present Faz or Rion) as the locality whence the 

 Greeks first derived it. Pliny calls these birds Pha- 

 sianas aves — birds of the Phasis. 



Besides the common pheasant we have a variety, 

 by some regarded as a distinct species, called the 

 Ring-necked pheasant, distinguished chiefly by a 

 white ring round the neck. It intermingles with 

 the common sort. 



The pheasant breeds in April, the young being 

 hatched at the latter end of May, or the beginning 

 of June, The nest is a rude structure placed on the 

 ground under the covert of fern ; the eggs are from 

 ten to fourteen in number. 



The food of this bird is very miscellaneous ; Je- 

 rusalem artichokes, potatoes, buckwheat, beans, 

 peas, barley, and wheat, are favourite articles of 

 diet; so also are bulbous roots, as those of the tulip, 

 the buttercup, &c. For these the bird digs with its 

 bill and feet. To this list must be added wild ber- 

 ries, sloes, haws, &c, and also insects, the larva? of 

 ants, &c. Hybrids between the pheasant and barn- 

 door fowl are not uncommon. These hybrids, though 

 they will not, as it would appear, breed together, 

 will breed either with the pheasant or common fowl. 

 (See 'Proceeds. Zool. Soc' 1836, p. 84.) 



Female pheasants, and also common fowls, occa- 

 sionally assume the plumage and voice of the male. 

 In these instances a peculiar disease renders the 

 birds unproductive. To enter minutely into the ha- 

 bits and manners of the pheasant is not necessary. 



Fig. 1737 represents a group of three pheasants 

 remarkable for their beauty, natives of China. 



1737, c. — Reeves' Pheasant 



(Syrmaticus veneraius, Wagler). Phasianus vene- 

 ratus, Temminck ; Ph. Reevesii, Hardwick. This 

 -splendid bird is a native of the north of China, and 

 the snowy mountains of Surinagur ; but no living 

 example ever reached Europe until the one brought 

 over by J. Reeves, Esq., of Canton, in 1831, and 



presented to the Zoological Society. In 1834 a 

 second specimen was procured by the same gentle- 

 man, and sent to the Society's menagerie. This 

 species is remarkable for the length of its tail, and 

 especially of the two middle tail-feathers, which 

 when fully grown measure six or seven feet in 

 length ; they are beautifully barred with curved 

 bands of dark brown on a grey ground, the bands 

 passing into pale chestnut at the edges. In size the 

 bird exceeds the common pheasant. Fine speci- 

 mens of the present species are in the British 

 Museum. In its manners the Reeves' pheasant 

 closely resembles the common pheasant, as far as 

 can be judged by the actions of the living speci- 

 mens alluded to, and we doubt not it might become 

 naturalized in our country. Upper surface gene- 

 rally golden yellow, each feather having a distinct 

 margin of black ; the head white, naked space 

 round the eye scarlet ; and a black streak passes 

 over the ear-coverts to the back of the head ; throat 

 white, bounded by a gorget of black ; the feathers 

 of the sides white in the centre, with barb-shaped 

 marks of black, and a deep red-brown border; 

 under parts black. 



1737, b. — The Goeden Pheasant 



(Thaumalea picta,W&g\ev). Phasianus pictus, Linn. 

 This richly coloured species is common in aviaries, 

 where it breeds freely ; it is a native.of China, where, 

 according to Latham, it is called Kenki, or Kenkee, 

 which signifies gold-flower fowl ; and is a great 

 favourite, as may be readily supposed, from its 

 beauty. The head is ornamented with a silky crest 

 of fine amber yellow. The feathers of the back of 

 the head and neck are square, disposed in scales, and 

 of a rich orange red, edged with a line of black, and 

 capable of being raised up at will ; lower down, so 

 as to encroach upon the top of the back, is a space 

 of dark glossy greenish feathers with rounded edge, 

 disposed scale-like ; the back is rich yellow, as are 

 the upper tail-coverts, with a crimson border ; the 

 tail-feathers are mottled with chestnut and black ; 

 the wings are deep blue at their base ; quills and 

 secondaries hrown with chestnut bars ; the whole of 

 the under surface intense scarlet. The female is of 

 a uniform rusty brown, with darker marks and spots, 

 and the tail is comparatively short. We have seen 

 admirable Chinese paintings of this bird. 



1737, a. — The Silver Pheasant 



(Gennanis nyctliemerus, Wagler). Phasianus nyc- 

 themerus, Linn. This is a larger and hardier bird 

 than the golden pheasant, and, though less gorgeous, 

 quite as beautiful from the chasteness of the colour- 

 ing and delicacy of the pencillings. It is a native 

 of the north of China, and in our island thrives so 

 well that its naturalization can be a work of no great 

 difficulty. It is as tame in confinement as a barn- 

 door fowl, and has more the habits and manners of 

 the fowl than of the pheasant. The cheeks are 

 covered with a naked skin of intense scarlet ; a crest 

 of black feathers ornaments the top of the head ; the 

 upper surface generally is of a pure white, traversed 

 with the greatest regularity by finely pencilled lines 

 of black across the feathers ; the chest and under sur- 

 face are purplish black. In the female the plumage 

 of the upper surface is rusty brown ; of the under 

 parts dingy white, banded with blackish, and irre- 

 gularly clouded with brown. 



1738, 1739. — The Impeyan Pheasant 



(Lophophorus Impeyanus). Lophophorus refulgens, 

 Temminck. The genus Lophophorus is characterized 

 as follows : — Head surmounted by a plume of feathers 

 having long slender shafts, and spreading into a 

 spatul ate form at the extremities; the cheeks are 

 only partially clothed with feathers; the tail is 

 broad and rounded at the termination ; the tarsi in 

 the male are armed with spurs ; the tip of the upper 

 mandible of the beak is prolonged and dilated for 

 scooping : the plumage of the male is of metallic 

 brilliancy. Fig. 1740 represents the head of the 

 male. The Impeyan pheasant is a native of the 

 Himalaya Mountains, and is never found on the 

 plains ; hence it exists in a temperature even below 

 that of moderate. The form is robust, and its food con- 

 sists to a great extent of bulbous roots, which it rakes 

 up with its bill out of the ground, for which pur- 

 pose, as well as for detaching the concentric layers 

 composing this substance, the utper mandible is 

 well adapted. In the male the head and throat 

 glisten with metallic green : the feathers of the 

 lower part of the neck and top of the back are 

 lancet-shaped, and of an intense metallic purple. 

 The wings and general plumage are steel blue, with 

 a white band across the lower part of the back; 

 the tail is rufous brown. As is the rule among the 

 gallinaceous birds generally, and especially the 

 pheasant tribe, the pea-fowls, and turkeys, the fe- 

 male (Fig. 1739) is not only smaller than her mate, 

 but differs greatly in colour, being of a dull brown, 

 dashed with grey and yellowish, and having a 

 white throat. The crest is comparatively trifling. 



Cuvier considers the present genus as allied in som 

 degree to the pea-fowls. 



1741.— Temminck's Horned Pheasant 

 (Tragopan Temminckii, Gray). To this bird we 

 shall allude in our observations on the next species. 



1742, 1743. — Hastings' Horned Pheasant 

 (Tragopan Hastingsii). The species composing 

 the genus Tragopan of Cuvier, which seem to offer 

 an intermediafe link between the genuine pheasants 

 and turkeys, are easily distinguishable from all the 

 rest of the Phasianidae (at least as far as regards the 

 male birds) by the presence of large throat-wattles, 

 or naked carunculated flaps of skin (resembling 

 those of the turkey), which extend from the naked 

 cheeks, spread over the throat, and proceed down 

 each side of the neck, while from behind each eye 

 rises a soft fleshy horn. The whole of these ap- 

 pendages are capable of being contracted and 

 dilated at pleasure, or in accordance with the 

 emotions of anger, fear, &c, as we see in the male 

 turkey : the tints of the horns and wattles are rich 

 purple, mingled with scarlet, and are most pro- 

 bably changeable from one hue to another. The 

 tail is broad and rounded, and the plumage is dotted 

 with round spots of white on a brown or red ground, 

 the effect of which is very pleasing. 



Of the three species that are known at present, two 

 have been but recently introduced to science, nor, 

 indeed, is our acquaintance with the one first de- 

 scribed of distant date. The first species is the 

 horned pheasant of Nepal (Tragopan satyrus). It 

 was first described and figured by Edwards, in the 

 third volume of his ' Natural History of Birds,' p. 116, 

 partly from a drawing sent from India to Dr. 

 Mead, and partly from a head of the bird preserved 

 in spirits which accompanied the drawing. Ed- 

 wards' third volume is dated 1750, and his plate 

 was etched in 1749, as appears by the date inscribed 

 in the corner. The alliance of this bird to the 

 turkey was not unobserved by this writer, who in 

 his catalogue places it among that group, while in 

 his account of it he observes that it is, " for shape of 

 body and proportion of parts, pretty much like a 

 turkey, and may be ranged with fowls of the poultry 

 kind." Dr. Latham, in his ' General History of 

 Birds,' states that these birds, though by no means 

 common, " are not unfrequent in drawings done in 

 India ; and are particularly well figured in those of 



Mr. Middleton and Lady Impey In the 



drawings of Sir J. Anstruther, it is said to inhabit 

 the snowy regions of Thibet." Its size is between 

 that of a fowl and turkey. It is beautifully figured 

 in Gould's ' Century of Birds.' 



The second species is from Thibet and the Chinese 

 borders, and was first described and figured in the 

 ' Indian Zoology,' by Mr. Gray, under the title of 

 Tragopan Temminckii. Of this species, rare as it is 

 beautiful, a living specimen, presented by J. R. 

 Reeves, Esq., was living, in 1836, in the Gardens of 

 the Zoological Society, and, as far as we are aware, 

 was the first example of one of the present group 

 having reached our shores alive and in health. It 

 was procured in China. (Fig. 1741.) 



The third species is from the northern range of 

 the Himalaya, and was first illustrated in Mr. Gould's 

 ' Century,' under the name of Tragopan Hastingsii ; 

 the figures are those of an adult and young male, 

 and adult female. In size this species rather ex- 

 ceeds the Tragopan satyrus, its total length being 

 twenty-three inches. The head of the adult male 

 is covered with a pendent crest of feathers, which, 

 together with the ear-coverts and the throat, are 

 black ; the neck and shoulders are rich maroon ; 

 the chest fine orange red; the naked skin round 

 the eyes is scarlet ; the wattles and horns purple, 

 tinted here and there wi ' scarlet. The upper 

 parts exhibit a mixture oi Ices, and marks 



of dark and light brown, -vhich 



are scattered numerous d 

 feathers of the under surtax an bum 

 with black, and having each a Jtn^ 

 white. The young male is less brilliant, 

 wattles are but little developed. 



The plumage of the female consists of a uniform 

 brown, mottled, barred, and dashed irregularly with 

 dark brown and dull fawn colour : the cheeks are 

 clothed with feathers, and the head is slightly 

 crested : there are neither horns nor pendent wattles. 

 Of the habits and manners of these noble birds in 

 a state of nature little is accurately known. 



1744. — The Argus Pheasant 



(Argus giganteus, Temminck). The genus Argus 

 is thus characterized : — Bill compressed, straight 

 except at the extremity, where it is curved and 

 vaulted : nostrils in the middle of the upper man- 

 dible. Sides of head and throat naked ; tarsi long 

 and spurless. Tail long, graduated ; the two middle 

 tail-feathers far exceeding the rest. Fig. 1745 re- 

 presents the head. The Argus pheasant is a native 

 of Sumatra, Malacca, and the south-east of Asia. 



