Birds, Vol. III, No 3, March 1898

<h2><SPAN name="THE_SILVER_PHEASANT" id="THE_SILVER_PHEASANT"></SPAN>THE SILVER PHEASANT.</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="verse">The Peasant Cocke the woods doth most frequent,</div> <div class="verse">Where Spaniells spring and pearche him by the sent.</div> <div class="verse ar">&mdash;<span class="sc">Old Rhyme.</span></div> </div></div> <div> <ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/initial_i.jpg" width-obs="59" height-obs="125" alt="" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">IN beautiful contrast with the Golden Pheasant (see <span class="sc">Birds</span>, Vol. 1, p. 13) we present this month the magnificent Silver or Penciled Pheasant, also a native of China, which has long been introduced into Europe, but has been considered to be fitted only for the aviary. The Pheasant was long thought to have been brought from the banks of the river Phasis, now the Rioni, in Colchis, and introduced into Europe by the Argonauts. Newton says that, as a matter of fact, nothing is known on this point; and, judging from the recognition of the remains of several species referred to, both in Greece and in France, it seems not impossible that the ordinary Pheasant may have been indigenous to England.</p> <p>It was thought only a few years ago that the successful propagation of Pheasants was problematical, but now the Mongolian, the English Ring-necked, and the Chinese Golden Pheasant, each has found a home in some of the states, where it is increasing in numbers. Why may not a similar experiment be made with the Silver Pheasant?</p> <p>On Fox Island, in Puget Sound, there is an oriental Pheasant preserve. Mr. Frank Alling, the proprietor, is securing the co-operation of other land owners, and it promises to be a great success. The varieties of Pheasants which he is raising include all we have mentioned in this article, as well as the Copper, the Green, the Bronze, and the Asiatic Ring-necks, with a curiosity in the shape of a mule produced by crossing and recrossing the Copper and Asiatic Ring-necks. The mule hens are very beautiful, but their eggs will not hatch. Oriental Quails liberated on the island have increased quite rapidly. Among the many importations are small Bantams from Woo Sung, China, for hatching Pheasant eggs and rearing the young birds; Mandarin Ducks, from Japan, (see <span class="sc">Birds</span>, Vol. I, p. 9); Wild Peacocks and Bleeding Heart Pigeons, from Calcutta, India, and Manila, respectively.</p> <p>In England within recent years the practice of bringing up Pheasants by hand has been extensively followed, and the numbers so reared, says Newton, vastly exceed those that are bred at large. The eggs are collected from birds that are either running wild or kept in a mew, and are placed under domestic hens; but, though these prove most attentive foster-mothers, much additional care on the part of the keepers is needed to insure the arrival at maturity of the chicks; for, being necessarily crowded in a comparatively small space, they are subject to several diseases which often carry off a large proportion, to say nothing of the risk they run of not being provided with proper food or of meeting an early death from some predatory animal. As they advance in age the young Pheasants readily take to a wild life, and indeed can only be kept from wandering in every direction by being plentifully supplied with food, which has to be scattered for them in the places in which it is desired that they should stay.</p> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</SPAN></span></p> <table class="sp2 mc w50" title="SILVER PHEASANT." summary="SILVER PHEASANT."> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3"><span class="ac w100 figcenter"> <SPAN name="i_052.jpg" id="i_052.jpg"> <ANTIMG style="width:100%" src="images/i_052.jpg" width="600" height="457" alt="" /></SPAN></span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences.</td> <td class="x-smaller ac w40">SILVER PHEASANT.<br/> &#189; Life-size.</td> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">Copyright by<br/> Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr class="small" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</SPAN></span></p> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />