The Reeves Pheasant, (Syrmaticus reevesi), of northern China, is a most beautiful species, closely related to the Japanese, Elliott, Hume and Soemmerring pheasants,—all of them fine, showy birds. Like the Amherst, the Reeves Pheasant has a very long tail, which in fully adult or old male birds often attains a length of five feet. When you see in captivity a pheasant with an enormously long tail, it is safe to assume that it is either an Amherst or a Reeves.
The Soemmerring Pheasant, (Phasianus soemmerringii), sometimes very aptly called the Copper Pheasant, is a native of Japan, and a bird of which any country might well be proud. In size, form and length of tail it matches the common ring-necked pheasant. Its head and neck plumage is of a warm copper-bronze tint, but its most beautiful colors are found in the elaborate cross-bar markings of its tail. The pattern of the latter reveals first a strong cross-bar of chocolate brown, above that a broad band of fawn-color, and this blends into a mottling of black on cream-color, edged across with black.
The True Ring-Necked Pheasant, (P. torquatus), of China, brings to view a question that frequently is asked regarding the English Pheasant, (P. colchicus), which is the common species of southeastern Europe and Asia Minor, and of Great Britain and other continental areas by introduction. We are asked, “Has the English Pheasant a white ring around its neck, or not?”
The answer is, the true, pure-blooded English, or Common Pheasant, (P. colchicus), has no ring around its neck; but so many persons have crossed the true Ring-Necked Pheasant, of China, with that species that in many flocks of the former species the majority of the individuals are of mixed breed, with necks perceptibly ringed, yet passing as English Pheasants. As a matter of fact, in the world to-day, pure-blooded English Pheasants are rare. Both the English and Ring-Necked species have been successfully introduced into several portions of the United States.
While on this subject, we will here record the fact that the name Mongolian Pheasant, as often applied to the Ring-Neck, is a misleading error. The real Mongolian Pheasant, of Turkestan, (P. mongolicus), is a species of such extreme rarity that it is almost unknown, alive, in the United States. A fine pair of these birds is now on exhibition at the Pheasant Aviary.
The Argus Pheasant, (Argusianus argus), is a bird with a great reputation for beauty, but as seen alive in zoological collections it does not always come up to expectations. Both its secondary feathers—which when fully developed are of enormous length—and its primaries, are extremely beautiful; but unfortunately those beauties are not visible until the bird is dead, and its plumage displayed in a manner very rarely adopted by the living, captive bird. But the eyes on the huge secondary feathers are wonderful, and each primary is a dream in ecru and brown tints, laid on in a most elaborate pattern. The Argus Pheasants are most shy and wide-awake birds, inhabiting the dense, hot and moist jungles of Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and are almost impossible to shoot. They are snared by the Dyaks and Malays, and after the skin has been removed and carefully preserved for museum purposes, the flesh is as fine eating as the breast of a quail and quite as palatable. A few successful attempts have been made to breed this species in captivity.
The Impeyan Pheasant, (Lophophorus impeyanus), is the neighbor of the Himalayan tahr, the burrhel, the ibex and the markhor, and the delight of every sportsman who dares the rocks of “the Roof of the World” in quest of Himalayan big game. Its beauty is due chiefly to its metallic colors, and the splendid iridescence of its plumage. Its home is in the world’s most gigantic mountains, and it is not uncommon for a bird that has flown out from a mountain-side and been shot on the wing to fall 2,000 feet, and beyond human reach. No wonder this bird is popular with Anglo-Indian sportsmen.
The Pheasant Aviary is a double installation, and as an aviary for Pigeons and Doves it is quite as perfect as it is for Pheasants.
During the year 1910 and part of 1911, the pheasants of the Old World were studied in their haunts by Mr. C. William Beebe, Curator of Birds. By reason of a cash gift to the Zoological Society made by Col. Anthony R. Kuser, he was enabled to make the expedition. The results will be embodied in an elaborate monograph, which probably will be published in the near future.