272 J. Delacour—Pheasant Notes : Status at Liberty and in Captivity


captivity and probably still common at liberty. No new blood has

been imported for many years. Edwards’ Pheasant, from the damp

coast of Annam, is rare in captivity and at liberty, but it seems to be

pretty well established now in Europe, to where I brought the first

specimens in 1924. A little to the north lives the rarest member of

the whole family, the Imperial Pheasant, which I had the luck of

discovering. Only a very few wild specimens have been found. The

original pair was brought over to France and bred successfully, so

that we may hope that the species will be acclimatized and kept up

in captivity.


The Firebacks belong to three different genera. The Siamese

Fireback (. Diardigallus diardi) lives in that country, but is also very

common and widespread in Indo-China. Although some pairs breed

well in captivity, others give poor results, and while it is fairly well

established in Europe, it still remains one of the rarer species. The

same thing can be said of the different Crested ( Lophura ) and Crestless

(Houppifer = Acomus) Firebacks of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and

Borneo. The only exception is the very rare Sumatran H. inornatus,

one female of which is now living in Dr. Chigi’s collection.


The wonderful Wattled Pheasant ( Lobiophasis bulweri), from

Borneo, one of the marvels of nature, has been brought over on a few

occasions but so far has never bred in captivity. It does not seem

to be very rare in its native island. Some pairs are expected to

arrive shortly.


The Junglefowls ( Gallus ) of the four species—Red, Sonnerat’s,

Lafayette’s, and Green Javan—are all numerous at liberty. They

breed well in Europe, the first named being naturalized in a few places

in England and in France. The remaining three are rather rare in

captivity, but all represented in collections at the present time.


The very numerous forms of the common Pheasants, which are found

from the Caucasus to Formosa and Japan, although still very abundant,

have, in my opinion, a very uncertain future. Every year they are

more and more persecuted and shot, and I know of many districts

whence they have now disappeared. They established themselves

readily in Europe and in America but, unfortunately, they have been

crossed more or less together so that our covert Pheasant is nothing



