REEVES' PHEASANT (Phasianus Reevesii, or P. veneratus).
THE JAPANESE PHEASANT.
The JAPANESE PHEASANT (Phasianus versicolor) has the head green and the upper part of the neck shaded with blue; the nape and entire under side are dark green, deepening to pale black at the sides and centre of the belly; the mantle-feathers are blackish green, surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped line of reddish yellow, edged with rust-red; the feathers of the upper wing and tail covers are blueish greyish green; the quills brownish grey, with light stripes; and the tail-feathers reddish grey, marked with black. The eye is light brown, the beak whitish grey, and the foot light brownish grey. The male is twenty-seven inches long and twenty-nine broad; the wing measures eight and the tail fifteen inches. The plumage of the hen differs from that of all the species above-mentioned, her feathers having a dark green centre, surrounded by a broad light brownish grey or light yellow border.
THE GOLDEN PHEASANT (Thaumalea picta).
These Pheasants are natives of Japan. In 1840 a pair of them were purchased by the Earl of Derby, of which the male only arrived at Knowsley; and from this bird and a female of the Common Pheasant have been derived the Green Pheasants, now so numerous in England. In form, habits, and disposition, this species resembles the Common Pheasant more nearly than the Phasianus torquatus, and has less disposition to wander.
SOEMMERRING'S PHEASANT.
SOEMMERRING'S PHEASANT (Phasianus Soemmerringii) is also known under the name of Graphephasianus, on account of its superior length of tail. The plumage of this species is principally copper-red, almost all the feathers having light borders; the centres of the upper wing and breast feathers are blackish brown; those on the rump have their rounded tips edged with golden yellow; the quills are brown, bordered with a paler tint; the eye is yellow, the beak horn-grey, the foot lead-grey. The hen is copper-red, marked with black, each feather edged with grey of various shades; those on the thighs are striped pale red and black; the quills are greyish brown, lightly bordered; the tail-feathers reddish, streaked with black and marked with deep brown; the throat and centre of the belly are light, and the lower belly dark grey.
This Pheasant, with which we became first acquainted through Dr. Siebold and Temminck, received its name from the latter, in honour of Professor Soemmerring, a distinguished naturalist.
Since the year 1860 the living bird has been brought to Europe, and those in the Zoological Gardens, London, produced a brood in June, 1865.