THE COMMON PHEASANT 
variation or for the very marked changes caused by wear and fading, 
which so greatly alter the colours and markings of the plumage that birds 
killed at the end of spring and in summer, before they have moulted, 
seem very different when compared with others of the same species 
procured in the late autumn and winter -months. 
For those who are interested in the importation of Asiatic pheasants 
for turning down in their coverts, or for their aviaries, the following list 
of species may prove of value, as indicating the country in which each 
is to be found: 
A. With maroon or bronze-red rump. 
a. With no white collar^ or only traces of one, 
1. Common pheasant, P. colchicus. Western Transcaucasia, and possibly 
also parts of Asia Minor, Greece and Turkey, as far north as the Balkans 
and Albania. 
2. Caucasian pheasant, P. septentrionalis (a sub-species of P, colchicus). 
North Caucasia, western coast of the Caspian Sea from the Apsheron 
Peninsula northwards to the mouth of the Volga. 
3. Talisch pheasant, P. talischensis (a sub-species of P. colchicus). South- 
western and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea, from the Apsheron 
Peninsula to Mazandaran. 
4. Persian pheasant, P. persicus. South-eastern coast of the Caspian 
Sea, basins of the Atrek and Gurgan rivers and their tributaries to the 
Potemkine Peninsula and Ashourada Island, possibly also ranging into 
western Mazandaran. 
5. Prince of Wales’s pheasant, P. principalis. North-western Afghanis- 
tan and Southern Turkestan, basins of the Murghab and Tajend rivers 
(=P. komarowi). 
6. Zarudny’s pheasant, P. zarudnyi (a sub-species of P. principalis). 
Lower Amu -Darya, from Kiva to Chardjui. 
7. Gordius’s pheasant, P, gordius (a sub-species of P. principalis). 
Upper Amu-Darya, from Chardjui to Kelif (= P. tshardjuensis). 
8. Zarafshan pheasant, P. zerafshanicus. Bokhara, Zarafshan Valley. 
9. Oxus pheasant, P. chrysomelas. Amu-Darya basin, from eastern 
Bokhara to the Sea of Aral (=P. bianchii). 
10. Shaw’s pheasant, P. shawi. Western portion of East Turkestan, 
valleys of the Aksu, Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan rivers (= P. chrysome- 
loides and P. insignis). 
109 
