Reeves’s Pheasant.
Phasianus Reevesii, J. E. Gray in Griff. Anim. Kingd., vol. iii. p. 25.—Id. Hardw. Ind. Zool., vol. 1. pi. 39.—G. R .
Gray, Gen. o f B irds, vol. iii. p. 497, Phasianus, sp. 6.— Sclat. in Proc. o f ZooL Soc. 1863, p. 117.—J. E.
Gray, List of Spec, o f B irds in Coll. Brit. Mus., p a r t v. Gallina, p. 28.
Barred-tailed Pheasant, Lath. Gen. H ist., vol. viii. pi. cxxiv*.
Phasianus veneratus, Temm. PI. Col. 485.—Ja rd . Nat. Lib., vol. xiv. pi. xvi.
------------ superbus, Jard . N a t. Lib., vol. xiv. p. 202.
Syrmatiim Reevesii,TRagl. in Isis, 1832, p. 1229.—G. R. Gray, Cat. o f G en, and Subgen. of B irds in Brit. Mus.,
p . 104.— Bonap. Compt, Rend. ;de l'Acad. Sci., tom. xlii. sgance .du 12 maj 1856.
_ ______ , sitperbtis, Strickl. in Ann..& Mag, N a t.,H is t,,1 8 4 1 , vol. vii. p, 36.
C o n s i d e r a b l e confusion respecting tile nomenclature of this remarkable species has been occasioned by the
late M. Temminck having in his ‘ H istoire Naturelle Générale des Pigeons et des Gallinacés ’ assigned its
two lengthened tail-feathers to the old Phasianus sup'erlm of Linnæus, an error which he subsequently
corrected when describing and figuring the bird in his • Planches Coloriées ’ as P . veneratus. In the interval
between the publication of the two works above mentioned, Dr. J . E. Gray named it Phasianus Reevesii,-ÍB
honour of the j l t e Mr. John Reeves, a gentleman ardentljy attached to natural science, who,' during his
many years’ residence in China, contributed so largely to our knowledge of the productions Of that
highly interesting country; and this name it is now By common consent allowed to retain, on the score of
priority to that of veneratus.
The error of M. Temminck was adopted by Dr. Latham ; and hence, while the description o f the Barredtailed
Pheasant in his • g eneral Hisfory of Birds,’ vol. viii. p. 196, has r e f e r e n c e '^ the <fà~P. superlus,
some o f his remarks apply to the present species. I t is probable that the bird did not escape the notice of
the celebrated traveller M a rS Polo, since he states “ There be plenty of Feysants and very greâj
for 1 o f them is as big as 2 of ours with Tayles of eygth, 9 and ten spannes long from the Kingdom
o f E rguyl or Arguill, the W. side of T artary” ;fBut I question if tie-ever saw more than the centrai tail-
feathers, which, being held in high estimation by the Chinese, were deemed suitable presents to foreigners,
and hence these feathers found their way to Europe many years before the entire bird ; the time however
arrived when; through the instrumentality of Mr. Reeves, we were favoured with thé: sight, of the skin of a
perfect male (which, as above mentioned, Dr. Gray dedicated to him), and some years later o f a female.
To him we are also indebted for the introduction of the .first living bird into' Europe, a fine male
specimen having been imported by him nbo’nt the year 1831. The son o f this gentleman, Mr. John R.
Reeves, brought «yet a female in 1838 ; " and the pair,” says M r. Tegetméier, in the • Field ’ for June 7, 1867,
“ wei-e living in the Gardens of the Zoological' Society at the same time; but the male being unfortunately
an aged bird, they did not breed.” The next living example that reached this country was a fine male,
received diréC;t from China by John Kelk, Esq., in 1 8® , and which roamed in perfect liberty and in excellent
health for two successive years among other pheasants at his seat, Stanmore Priory, near Edgware.
Out of evil comes gobd; and thns war, with all its horrors,■& the precursor of extended knowledge.
The productions of the vast empire of China were hut the other day so little known to the man ’Of science
that tt wag only by surmise, by grotesque drawings, and the receipt of remarkable feathers of birds that he
formed any idea of its ornithology ; the late war, however, has placed Europeans and the inhabitants of the
“ celestial empire ” upon a different footing ; and we now not only get- skins of this fine pheasant, but living
examples in considerable numbers—so abundantly, in fact, that at this moment (May 1868) the bird is being
successfully bred in more than one menagerie both in England’and on the continent.
“ The successful introduction of the living birds now in this icountry,” says Mr. Tegetmeier, in the No. of
the ‘ Field’ above referred to, “ is>owing to the combined efforts-of Mr. John J . Stone and Mr. Walter H.
Medhurst, H. M. Consul at Hankow. For several years past Mr. Stone had made continuous efforts to obtain
this and other new pheasants from Northern China, with satisfactory result, until the valuable aid of Mr.
Medhurst was obtained; and I tls mainly due to that gentleman’s thorough knowledge of the natives o f China
and of their language that the true habitat o f this bird was ascertained and its introduction accomplished.
Mr. Medhurst employed an experienced Chinaman'to proceed into the interior for the express purpose Of
collecting this and other rare pheasaiits, of which coloured drawings had been supplied for his guidance.
The first three lots obtained, with a single exception, all died before they reached England. The fourth
was obtained in the direction of Syechney, about thirty days’’ journey from Hankow; and of these, seven