THE PAINTED PHEASANT, MALE. 
Phasianus Pictus. Lin . Syst. i. p . 27 2. 5. 
Le Faisan dore' de la Chine. Bris , Orn. i. p . 27 1 . 
Le Tricolor Huppe de la Chine. Bris . Ow. ii. p> 3 55 . 
This subject is very justly ranked in the number of the most beautiful birds 
preserved in this menagery, and in the collections of the curious. It is a na- 
tive of China, where it is called Kin-ki. In size it is less than the common 
Pheasant (though more elegantly shaped), being two feet nine inches from 
the point of the bill to the end of the tail. 
As the greatest attention will be observed in colouring the Plates of this 
work, in order to give a faithful representation of each subject, I shall not 
in general have occasion to enter into a particular description of the co- 
lours ; but here it will be necessary to assist the pencil. 
The crest is of a most splendid, burnished gold colour, the feathers ap- 
pearing like silk, which it can erect or depress at pleasure; the cheeks are a 
tawny flesh colour, thinly beset with feathers; the back of the neck co- 
vered with long loose plumage of a bright orange, square at the ends, and 
marked with transverse bars of a rich velvet black; these likewise can be 
erected at pleasure, the same as in the domestic cock. In the season of love, 
when he is addressing the hen, these feathers form a circle from the 
hind part of the neck to the bill. The feathers from the bottom of the 
neck to the back are of a deep bronzed green, rounded at the ends, and 
marked with a circle of black, and which change their position from side 
to side, according to the attitude of the bird. The coverts of the tail are 
stiff, long, narrow, and of a bright crimson, and are divided on each side 
the tail, as expressed in the Plate. 
This species is now become naturalized to our climate; they are hardy 
birds, and require no other attention in breeding them than what is neces- 
sary for the common Pheasant. 
