Description 
The major difference between the South Korean and the Manchurian 
ringneck subspecies, cited by Austin (3), is in coloration, The Man- 
churian ring-necked pheasant is a larger and paler bird, than the South 
Korean form whose darker color is associated with higher rainfall. 
South Korea with higher rainfall produces the darker P. c. karpowi. 
Minor color characteristics such as the width of the neck ring, the 
shade of the light stripe over the eye, and the white spot in the dark 
neck feathers, have been evaluated for both subspecies but none is 
definite except on inspection of a large series of skins. As is true 
with other Phasianus subspecies, many types of color variants are pro- 
duced in the wild by the South Korean ring-necked pheasant. 
The description given here follows Delacour (8) and serves to 
distinguish between the South Korean (P. c. karpowi) and Manchurian 
(P. c. pallasi) ring-necked pheasants, particularly where no inter- 
grading has occurred: 
South Korean ring-necked pheasant Manchurian ring-necked pheasant 
Male 
Smaller and darker colored; Larger and lighter in color; 
collar uninterrupted and wide crown pale; white eyebrows and 
in front; wing: 240-260 mn. collar very wide and uninter- 
rupted in front; usually a white 
spot on the cheeks; mantle straw 
yellow; scapulars light cinnamon- 
chestnut; rump pale grey; 
wing: 249-270 mm. 
Female 
Darker colored and well marked Light in color but well marked 
Taka-Tsukasa (18) provides the following detailed descriptions of 
the male and female South Korean ring-necked pheasant: 
"Adult Male 
"Top of the head oily olive-green; forehead, face, throat and neck 
glossy dark-green, purplish-blue in certain lights. Superciliary stripe 
creamy-white, or white, beginning just above the eye and extending to 
the back of the ear-coverts. Lower neck broadly collared with white, 
and having another narrow dark-green collar immediately below it. Upper 
back, sides of breast, flanks and sides of abdomen ochreous-orange; the 
basal part of the upper-back feathers white, the border of which and the 
margin of the feather dark-green. These two green bands are connected 
with a dark-green shaft streak. The feathers of the upper parts of the 
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