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the Zoological Gardens ; Mr. Stone has since

anded here alive and deposited in
In sending home these birds Mr. Medhurst

are located in his pheasantries.
ossession of specimens ; and in compliance with this wish
epted by Her Majesty, and they are now in the

Reeves’s Pheasants were |
received several others, which
t the Queen should have early p

was anxious tha
and graciously acc

one male and two females were offered to
aviaries at Windsor Castle.”

~ That the Phasianus Reevesii is likely to breed in and or
for its native country, the neighbourh
our climate cannot be an uncongenial one. Besides the locality above
d in the Taihoo district of Central China, on the north side of

nament our aviaries for many years to come, there

can be little doubt ; ood of Pekin, and the British Islands being nearly

in the same parallel of latitude,
mentioned, the bird is also said to be foun
the Yang-tsze-Kiang. |

Latham mentions that he saw at Sir Joseph
collection of ancient porcelain, wherein is repre
ment, supposed to be between his Tartarian aud Chine
the chieftains of the former having one of the barred fe
(perhaps as an insigne of one order), the opponents or
smaller kind, probably of the Golden one; and hence he concludes that the present bird is a native of

Banks’s some fine drawings taken from Lady Banks’s curious
sented a mock fight on the water for the Emperor’s amuse-
se subjects, personated by the females in his seraglio,—
athers of this species on each side of the bonnet

Chinese having two feathers of a Pheasant of a

Tartary, and not unlikely to be as common there as the other is in China.

As every scrap of information respecting a bird of which so little is known is of interest, I copy the
following extract from the ‘ Wanderings in New South Wales, &c.,’ of Dr. George Bennett :-—

“Tn Mr. Beale’s splendid aviary and garden at Macao the beautiful Phasianus veneratus of Temminck, the
P. Reevesii of Gray, now commonly known by the name of Reeves’s Pheasant, was seen. It is the Chee Kat
of the Chinese. The longest tail-feathers of this bird are six feet in length, and are placed in the caps of
the players when acting military characters. This I observed in Canton, where some of the beautiful tail-
feathers (rather in a dirty condition, like the actors themselves, who in their tawdry dresses reminded me
of the chimney-sweeps in London on a May-day) were placed erect on each side their caps as a decoration.
The Chinese do not venerate this bird, as was first supposed, and which may have caused Temminck to
bestow upon it the name of veneratus ; but it is superstitiously believed that the blood of the bird is possessed
of poisonous properties, and that the Mandarins, when in expectation of losing their rank and being suddenly
put to death by order of the Emperor, preserve some of it upon a handkerchief in a dried state, on sucking
which they fall down and instantly expire.

«Mr. Beale’s first male specimen, obtained in 1808, was kept in a healthy state for thirteen years ; after
its death he endeavoured to procure others, but did not succeed until 1831, when four specimens were
brought from the interior of China, and purchased by him for 130 dollars ; these were, I believe, subse-
quently taken to England by Mr. Reeves.”

I om pneatly indebted to James J. Stone, Esq., of Scyborwen, Llantrissent, for his kindness in submitting
to my inspection examples of this and many other fine Pheasants when they unfortunately die in his aviary.

The male has the crown of the head, a spot under the eye, chin, and a broad collar round the neck whites
forehead, face, a et mark on the throat, a broad collar round the base of the neck, centre of the
a: i under tail-coverts jet-black; feathers of the upper surface and breast buffy yellow, each
—.. aa ee a the tip; centre of the wing black, with a mark of snow-white in the
— ere ee ae meee with white and Blas primaries blackish brown,
sae | y grey, armed with tawny buff, and crossed with numerous bands of black
Pe em ilccicd. our; spurs nearly black at tips; naked skin before,

ae ale has the parts of the head and neck, with the exception of the crown, yellowish buff, in lieu of
es ‘on of the neck beantifully marked with black, chestnut, a white, the tae of a
ee oe ree ee ee ee light chestnut-brown, with pale grey
and black, each feather with a oe . - ae ue under tail-coverts light buff; wings mottled brown
dark streak down the centre: five or : “ : as dou the centre; rump dark, freckled brown, with a
irregular bands of black aval see ae : - a eos on each side rich chestnut, crossed by
acle meu argely tipped with white; central tail-feathers freckled brown and

The annexed Plate repr
} ‘presents both sexes nearly of tl 1 i
, ae ; S \ 1e size of life, with the ex 1 e splendi
feathers of their tails, which are of necessity omitted: but their 1 a ae vs
e 5 U a fe

reduced figures in the distance. elative proportions are well shown in the

The lensth i
gece diadunie cone po ncially es : ae i central feathers of the male varies considerably in
arly six feet long, while others a
. ? 5S? ot ers are r : ;
the case with the females of other Pheasants. is ¢ only four or five: het
> Sy IS

: onsiderg ee :
Bere A; feanls derably smaller than the male, and has a relatively

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