104 The Natural History of British Game Birds 
size and weight, the males measuring 36 to 37 inches, and weighing as much as 5 lbs. 
and over. They do equally well in Scotland and Ireland. 
Various correspondents in sporting papers have argued that if the pure and cross- 
bred Mongolians have a fault, it is a tendency to stray more than other Pheasants. 
This argument will not, however, hold good, for the habit of straying is inherent in 
all Pheasants, and is induced or subdued according to local conditions. Want of food, 
position of coverts, rabbits destroying undergrowth, and abundant other reasons will 
cause Pheasants to become restless ; and we know that early hatched birds begin to 
stray in September unless constantly " driven in " and supplied with suitable food. 
What may, therefore, be the experience of individuals does not necessarily mean an 
individual fault of the Mongolian Pheasant, but a lack of those amenities which are 
essential to its well-being. Pure-bred Mongolian Pheasants have recently been intro- 
duced to British Columbia and New Zealand, and there is little doubt that they will 
do very well in all these countries, which are more suitable to their requirements in 
every way than our islands, provided the districts in which they are turned down 
possess running streams. They told me in Vancouver that numbers of Pheasants 
(P. c. torguatus) died from thirst during one of the first years of their introduction. 
There is little running water in the neighbourhood, and a sharp frost occurring, all 
the surface water was frozen. In several cases the birds were found with tails frozen 
to the ground and unable to move. For some time the Americans confused this 
Pheasant with P. c. torguatus. The true sub-species was not introduced there 
until 1908. 
Mr. O. Grant has said that he possessed no notes of importance with regard to 
its habits in its true home; but it is unlikely that it differs much from the other sub- 
species. There are, however, certain points with regard to the Mongolian Pheasant 
which we must notice as peculiar. 
One of these is the appearance and attitude of Mongolian males in the spring- 
time, both prior to and during the act of display. The cock carries his head sunk down 
and the body horizontal. Thus he " creeps " about during the breeding season. More- 
over, the exhibition of the papillar patch round the eye is quite different from other 
Pheasants. When standing up he holds his head back and thrusts forward the front 
part of the neck, displaying the white ring to the utmost. The red wattle is not 
raised above the head as in P. c. torguatus, but is correspondingly larger below the 
angle of the mouth. The attitude of the male at this season is admirably shown in 
Mr. Thorburn's beautiful drawing, which is taken direct from life. The rudimentary 
ear-tufts, too, do not stand up as in other Pheasants, and the whole head has a much 
more rounded appearance. There is little doubt, too, that the actual courtship dis- 
play is slightly different. Mr. Hugh Wormald, a keen observer of birds, writes to 
me (April 24, 1908): — 
"I watched a pure Mongolian cock showing off to a hen this evening in a way I have 
not noticed one do previously. He lowered his head almost to the ground, fluffed out all 
his feathers, raised his tail, fully spread and twisted his rump, so that the tail faced the hen, 
although his body was sideways. The attitude was more like a Golden or Amherst cock, 
but the tail was more completely turned over. Then he moved it sharply up and down. 
He did this several times, crowing loudly between each display." 
