Cover preferences for night roosting include hillsides or grass 
lands near hill ridges. Early in the morning the pheasant moves down- 
ward from its roost to the base of the hill or terraced land where there 
are crops, grass, or brush, The green pheasant seeks its feeding, 
resting and dusting areas on hillsides, in grass lands, or in cultivated 
fields, Cultivated croplands frequented most often are rice, soybeans, 
barley, wheat, other grains and vegetable crops. 
More than one-half of the total land area of Japan is covered with 
a wide variety of broad-leaved and coniferous forest tree species which 
often have dense undergrowths. In the range of the northern green 
pheasant, in the northern half of Honshu below 3,500-foot elevations, the 
forest vegetation includes conifers and deciduous broad-leaved tree species 
as well as evergreens. Conifers include three species of pines (Pinus) 
and other tree species such as Larix, Thujopsis dolabrata, Abies firma, 
Thuja standishii, Taxus cuspidata and the Japanese redwood (Cryptomeria 
japonica). Below elevations of 1,600 feet, deciduous tree and understory 
vegetation are represented by acacia (Albizzia julibrissin), Celtis 
japonica and Salix integra. At slightly lower elevations grow Quercus, 
Fagus, Acer, Ulmus, Magnolia, Prunus, Aesculus and Japanese chestnut 
(Castanea crenata) and other species. 
Broad-leaved evergreens grow mainly below 1,600 feet and include 
the more common tree and brush species such as Cyclobalanopsis spp., 
Eurya japonica, Smilax china, along with the wild camellia (Camellia 
japonica). Several species of tall bamboo (Phyllostachys) often occur 
around agricultural fields and village houses. 
The dwarf bamboo such as Arundinaria communis, Pleioblastus chino 
and Sasa albo-marginata grow as rank understory vegetation sometimes 
forming impenetrable thickets. Bamboo plants abound in northern green 
pheasant range, particularly in moist canyons and on hillsides down to 
the edges of cultivated fields. Characteristic understory plant species 
found intermixed with bamboo, particularly in the vicinity of northernmost 
stream banks or marshes, include Menyanthes trifoliata, Phalaris arundi- 
nacea, Phragmites communis, Typha latifolia and Zizania latifolia. In 
shady and moist areas are found such plant genera as Hosta, Lysimachia 
and Patrinia. 
Other understory vegetation widespread in the range of the northern 
green pheasant includes Carex lanceolata, Carex nervata and Japanese 
goldenrod (Solidago japonica). Growing on fertile and humid inland plains 
is Petasites amplus. Thick stands on steep mountain slopes are formed by 
white clover (Trifolium repens). Some other common legumes growing wild 
are Lespedeza bicolor and Pueraria thunbergiana. 
In dry, sandy areas the common ground cover may consist of Ophiopogon 
japonicus, and the chief dry land grass would be Miscanthus sinensis. 
Vegetation growing abundantly in dry fields and along disturbed road beds 
ee © Ce es os OO 
Pulsatilla and Zoysia. 
