THE JAPANESE PHEASANT. 
Phasianus versicolor. 
Plate XXXVIII. 
In the spring of 1840, M. Westerman, the Director of the Zoological Gardens of Amsterdam, brought to 
Knowsley the only pair of Japanese Pheasants which have, as yet, reached Europe in a living state. The 
female, after beginning to lay, from some unforeseen cause, had died in the course of the journey, and the late 
Lord Derby, who justly attached great value to the acquisition he was about to make, was only put into 
possession of the male. This bird, as if to prove the hardiness of the species, lived in his lordship’s menagerie 
until its dissolution in 1851, and then became the property of Prince Demidoff, with seven young birds. These 
by care and perseverance had been so judiciously bred as to have all but lost the stain of the common Pheasant 
(Phasianus colchicus), with which the old male had been paired, on the death of the Japanese female. They, in 
point of fact, so closely resembled the original bird, that it was impossible to distinguish their plumage from 
skins of the true P. versicolor received from Japan. 
A pair of these birds were left by Prince Demidoff in the hands of the late Mr. Thompson, and from them 
both eggs and young birds have been distributed to various amateurs and members of this Society. It is 
believed, however, that the late Duke of Leeds, and M. Jacques Vekemans, the talented and energetic Director 
ot the Zoological Gardens at Antwerp, have alone been successful in perpetuating this approximately pure 
breed. 
The difficulty which has arisen in respect to the continued reproduction of these birds is obviously the 
want of new blood, for experiments have already demonstrated that they are perfectly capable of enduring 
the vicissitudes of our climate, that they are as prolific as their congeners, and that when crossed with the 
ordinary Pheasant of our coverts, they effect the most sensible improvement in the weight and beauty of the 
produce. 
After the purchase of the old male by Prince Demidoff, Mr. ,1.11. Gurney, M.P., secured twelve half-bred 
birds which had been hatched in 1850 and 1851, and placed them on his estates at Easton, in Norfolk. From 
these and the common Pheasants at Easton and its neighbourhood, have emanated some extremely fine hybrid 
birds, which have now extended themselves considerably in the county. It is probable that a similar race 
may have become established at Stubton, in Lincolnshire, where a pair of half bred birds were turned out by 
the late Sir Robert Heron. The same experiment was tried in Knowsley Park, but from some adverse 
circumstances, probably in the character of the soil, they did not thrive in anything like the degree which 
so remarkably characterized their removal to Norfolk. 
The Japanese Pheasant is at present deficient to the collection, but through the exertions of Mr. Rutherford 
Alcock, our Consul-General for Japan, who has taken great interest in the matter, the Society are expecting 
shortly to receive fresh pairs of this bird and of Soemmering’s Pheasant, which has never yet been brought to 
England in a living state. 
