216



P. J. Lambert—A Few Tit-bits on Pheasants



to my mind wrong. He places them : 1, Satyr Tragopan ; 2, Amherst;


3, Golden; 4, Peacock Pheasants ; 5, Edwards ; 6, Reeves. What


about the Impeyan and Elliot ? I would suggest : 1, Satyr or


Temminck Tragopan ; 2, Amherst; 3, Chinquis Peacock Pheasant;


4, Impeyan ; 5, Elliott; 6, Golden or Swinhoe. But then I am not

sure that our common Blackneck does not deserve a place in this list.

Examine him closely and I think many will agree with me. Mr. Beever

mentions a Temminck Tragopan cock which I have here. This is

a remarkable bird. It was dispatched by Mr. A. Hampe from Shanghai

and was beautifully packed and in wonderful condition when it arrived

about last November. It walked out of its crate as sedately as though

it was just emerging from its shelter. In a few weeks it became the

tamest Pheasant I have on my place and what is very remarkable,

in this its first spring in our country, it has been most fertile and I hope

to rear some of his progeny. Is it not exceptional for a freshly

imported Pheasant to be fertile in its first year of importation ?


It is certainly difficult to rear Tragopans. I am convinced that they

require small insects ; ants’ eggs are to my mind the ideal food, meal¬

worms and maggots they are very fond of but these are dangerous

and cause purging. Also, give a Pheasant chick mealworms and one

has great difficulty in persuading them to eat other foods. If only

Pheasant hens would become more broody in captivity half our troubles

would be over. I am now watching from my window an Amherst

hen which hatched six chicks last Friday ; incidentally, there were

no dead in the shell. She spends her whole day finding her chicks

minute insects. When any danger threatens she gives her chicks

a very sweet high-pitched whistle and they are under her before one

can say “ knife I have just gone out and thrown a tennis ball in her

direction and hey presto ! they are “ non adsum ”. Try and take one

of her chicks away from her and she becomes a veritable virago. They

are a perfect delight to watch.


Now Mr. Beever suggests that Tragopans do not get sufficient

exercise and goes on to say: “ Perhaps if some large aviaries were

built on a hillside over some rocks and boulders they would get plenty

of exercise.” He also says : “ This may be sheer nonsense.” Well!

he has said it ! Why not build a miniature Himalayan mountain and



