RING-NECKED PHEASANT. 
193 
possible to decide the question from any series which 
could be procured from the preserves of this coun- 
try ; and we possess Indian specimens of the ringed 
bird only. We shall therefore mention the reasons 
for separating them which the above-mentioned na- 
turalist has pointed out, stating, at the same time, 
that we consider his opinion to be correct, and that 
the differences evidently appear more marked than 
in many allied birds which have universally been 
acknowledged distinct. 
The ringed pheasant chiefly inhabits the forests of 
China, where the common species is also abundant, 
but in this natural state they never breed together. 
The eggs of the ringed bird also differ : they are of 
a pale bluish-green, marked with small blotches of 
a deeper tint; while those of the common pheasant 
are of an olive white*, and without any spots. The 
ringed pheasant in its wild state, is always of a lesser 
size, the extreme length never exceeding two feet 
five inches, and the tail itself is much shorter in pro- 
portion to the body. The head is of a whitish fawn 
colour, tinted with bluish-green ; and above each eye 
there are two white lines, forming a sort of eyebrow. 
The markings on the back are different and smaller, 
and the rump feathers shew the same peculiar tint 
which the mixture of fawn and greenish-blue ex- 
hibits; and, lastly, the white ring broadest upon the 
sides of the neck, is a mark which never can be mis- 
* This may be seen in any part where the two breeds ex- 
ist together. 
N 
