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woods than the P. torquatus, and moreover does not exhibit that inclination to wander, so characteristic
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of the Ring-necks, a circumstance much in its favour. Nothing, however, can be more uninteresting to the
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f - nee than the mongrel varieties produced by the introduction of these new Pheasants, which bid
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that I have little hesitation in saying, in twenty years from this time nothing like
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fair to increase so rapidly,
oe this, however, will be of little moment, since they may be
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a true species will be found in this country; ae ey a: ae
: : : , ic . “r natural habitat; namely, . Colchicus in Asia
obtained in those portions of the globe which form their nature y/

Minor, P. ¢orguatus in China, and P. versicolor in Japan. aye lealleennd

I cannot close this paper without returning my thanks to John Henry Gurney, Henry Kelsall, and G. D.
Berney, Esqs., for several interesting varieties of these pheasants. .

The male has the forehead, crown and occiput purplish oil-green ; ear-tufts glossy-green ; chin, throat,
sides and back of the neck glossy changeable bluish-green; back of the neck, breast, and under
surface deep shining grass-green, with shades of purple on the back of the neck aml! pp eL part of ihe
breast ; feathers of the back and scapularies chestnut with buffy shafts, and two narrow lines of buff running
round each, about equidistant from each other and from the margin; lower part of the backs and upper
tail-coverts light glaucous-grey; shoulders and wing-coverts light greenish-grey washed em purple ;
primaries brown on the internal web, toothed with dull white at the base, outer web greyer ad irregularly
banded with dull white; tertiaries brown freckled with grey, and margined, first with greenish-grey, and
then with reddish chestnut; centre of the abdomen and thighs blackish-brown ; tail glaucous-grey, slightly
fringed with purplish, and with a series of black marks down the centre, opposite to each other at the base
of the feathers, where they assume a band-like form ; as they advance towards the tip they become gradually
more and more irregular, until they are arranged alternately, and in like manner gradually increase in size;
on the lateral feathers these marks are much smaller, and on the outer ones are entirely wanting, those
feathers being covered with freckles of brown; orbits crimson-red, interspersed with minute tufts of black
feathers ; eyes yellowish-hazel ; bill and feet greenish horn-colour.

Compared with the female of the Common Pheasant, the hen of the present bird has all the markings
much stronger, and is altogether of a darker colour. She has the whole of the upper surface very dark or
blackish-brown, each feather broadly edged with buff, passing in some of the feathers to a chestnut hue;
those of the head, and particularly of the back, with a small oval spot of deep glossy-green close to the
tip; primaries and secondaries light brown, irregularly barred with buff, and with buffy shafts; tertiaries
dark brown, broadly edged with buff on their inner webs, and mottled with dull pale chestnut on the outer
web, the edge of which is buff; tail dark brown, mottled with buff and black on the edges, and crossed by
narrow irregular bands of buff bordered on either side with blotches of dark brown; on the lateral feathers
the lighter edges nearly disappear, and the bands assume a more irregular form; throat buff ; all the
remainder of the under surface buff, with a large irregular arrow-head-shaped mark near the top of each
feather; thighs similar, but the dark mark nearly obsolete.

The Plate represents the two sexes about three-fourths of the natural size, from a drawing by Mr. Wolf.

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