468 
THE SILVER PHEASANT. 
velvety-black. The whole ruff can be raised or depressed at will. Fly -fishers hold the crest 
and ruff of this bird in great value, as many of their best artificial baits owe their chief beauty 
to the Golden Pheasant. Just below the ruff comes a patch of scale-like rounded feathers of 
dark glossy-green, over which the ends of the ruff feathers play as the bird moves its head, 
and below them the 
back is wholly of a 
bright golden -yel- 
low, enriched on the 
upper tail - coverts 
by a crimson edg- 
ing. The primary 
and the second- 
ary feathers of the 
wings are a rich 
brown barred with 
chestnut, and their 
bases are deep bine. 
The breast and ab- 
domen are brightest 
scarlet, and the tail 
is rich chestnut 
mottled with black. 
The eye is bright, 
glancing, and of a 
whitish yellow. 
These magnifi- 
cent colors only be- 
long to the male 
bird, the female be- 
ing reddish-brown spotted and marked with a darker hue, 
and the tail is short. 
The second ruffed Pheasant is that which is known by 
the name of Amherst’ s Pheasant (. Thaumdlea amliers- 
Ucb ), also a native of China. This magnificent bird has 
a wonderfully long and broad tail, quite as remarkable as 
that of Peeves’ Pheasant. The crest of this beautiful bird 
is scarlet, the tippet is snowy- white, each feather being tipped with 
velvety -black, the shoulders are rich shining green,- the abdomen 
pure white, and the tail is white, barred with dark green, and strik- 
ingly varied with the scarlet tips of the upper tail-coverts, which are 
much elongated. 
The Silver Pheasant is another inhabitant of China, and is found 
chiefly in the northern portions of that country. 
It is one of the largest and most powerful of the tribe to which it 
belongs, and is said to be a match for a game-cock in fair combat. It is 
a hardy bird, and, like the Golden Pheasant, has been turned loose into preserves, 
but with even less success. The weight of the bird is generally too great in 
proportion to its strength of wing, so that it does not readily raise itself from the 
ground, and thereby runs a risk of being devoured by the carnivorous quadrupeds that 
infest every preserve. Moreover, it is so large, so strong, and so combative, that it fights 
the common Pheasants, and drives them out of the coverts, so that at present we have to 
content ourselves with rearing it under the safe protection of brick and wire. 
GOLDEN PHEASANT .— ThaumcUta picta. 
