Daily movements usually start with small numbers of pheasants 
leaving the hillside roost early in the morning. A downward move soon 
puts the phe ants in or adjacent to croplands or grassy areas where 
they feed. og After feeding, movement is back to the grass or brushy 
hillsides for resting and dusting. In the afternoon the pheasant again 
walks downward to the feeding areas, thence back up the hillside to the 
evening roost. 
Flight and Wariness 
Japanese green pheasants are fast fliers and wary birds. A hunter 
should utilize good dogs to locate them. When flushed they tend to fly 
sharply upward 15 to 30 feet, then either horizontally along the hillside 
or toward the nearest hilltop. After reaching sufficient flying speed 
they often glide to a place of escape. Birds fly from their hiding places 
by one's or two's, 
American hunters stationed with the armed forces in Japan consider 
green pheasants faster in flight and more wary than the ring-necked 
pheasants. This combination provides ample challenge to the sportsman. 
The green pheasant is less a speedster than the copper pheasant, which 
when flushed uses its 25-to 30-inch tail to guide its flight down a 
canyon at deceptively fast speeds. 
Resting and Roosting 
Following the morning feeding period the green pheasant rests on 
the ground on hillsides, preferably in sandy areas where dusting also 
occurs. Other resting areas may be under thick undergrowth in sparsely 
wooded deciduous-type forests. 
About sundown the green pheasant seeks out its roost site by walking 
up the hillside, preferably to a grassy area at or near the hilltop. 
Lacking this type of cover, the birds may utilize more brushy but open 
types of vegetation. Roosting normally is on the ground, but Taka- 
Tsukasa (18) also reports it in trees. 
Nesting and Renesting 
Green pheasant nests are often found close to low bushes or at 
bases of trees. Some are also placed in or at the edges of cultivated 
fields or along brush or forest edges. They are found from sea level to 
around 3,000 feet. Figure 17 shows a female green pheasant incubating 
seven eggs on a nest located in low bamboo plants. The second photo- 
graph shows ten freshly hatched chicks. This nest was found in central 
Honshu above 2,600 feet elevation on the lower slope of Mt. Fuji. 
According to Taka-Tsukasa (18) clutch sizes range from 6 to 12 
eggs with as high as 15 reported. 
(a) Information from Mr. Kawamura, Iwate Prefectural Game Warden, 
Morioka, Japan 
26 
