“ d. P . insignis has the tips of the under tail-coverts washed with green. My P. shaioi series was
certainly devoid of this character; but, on the other hand, in at least seven of P . insignis also not a trace
of it was present.
“ e. In P . shaioi the rump has greenish reflections. But so had the majority o f my specimens of
P . insignis.
“f Lastly, feet and tarsi of P . insignis blackish brown, of P . shaioi greyish. This does not hold goo d :
some of my P . shaioi series had darker feet and tarsi than P . insignis; and many of the latter had the legs
and feet lightish grey.
“ Having failed to discover that Mr. Elliot’s description would help us to uphold two species, I next
ventured to try if I could not find something distinctive myself. I started several points, the wing-coverts,
the edgings of the feathers of the lower back, the colours of the thighs, &c.; but they really would not
answer; the series were alike in these respects. The following three points were the last and most
promising
“ 1. Three specimens of P . insignis had a narrow half-collar of white almost continuous at the back of
the neck. This was interesting as bearing on Mr. Elliot’s statement that the bird was allied to
P . mongolicus, but was of no value as a distinctive character, as it was not constant, and, besides, one of
the P . shaioi series showed the beginning of this white streak also.
“ 2 . The shaft of the tail-feathers in one P . shaioi was alternately dusky and yellowish white; in
P . insignis it was dusky throughout. Now, I thought, if this be only constant throughout the two series,
it will, taken with
3. The one marked point—the abrupt termination of the green of the neck, so well shown in Elliot’s
figure o f P . shawi, though not exactly mentioned by him in words—satisfy one that there are two species
o f Pheasants in Yarkand.
“ To test this, I began to' draw the birds out o f the covers. The first had the shaft variegated; and on
turning it round to look a t the breast it proved to be P . shaioi. The second gave a like result. The third
showed the shaft of the tail-feathers dusky throughout, and the characters of P . insignis as to b re a st: this
became exciting. The fourth had the shaft dusky and yellowish, and the breast—Eh ! what ? P . insignis
or P . shaioi ? I rushed to the window to get a good light on the subject. Mortifying re su lt! I t was
impossible to tell by its breast whether it were P . shawi or P . insignis; it was intermediate. Another
specimen was trie d ; it had the tail-shaft dusky throughout, and it was also intermediate as to the breast.
It must be given u p ! I have only one species represented by my entire series of specimens.
“ It seems scarcely possible that there should be really two species o f Pheasants in Yarkand, and that
during a residence of ten months there I should only have come across one of th em ; besides, as I have
explained above, I really think that I have some of the birds in the slightly different states of plumage which
are shown in Mr. Elliot’s two plates. Now I know by the dates on the tickets of my specimens that this
slight variation is not due to season; and I can therefore only suggest that it may be a question of age—
a view which the length of the spurs seems to confirm. The heads o f the birds are alike; so are the
measurements; and intermediate forms occur; but as I feel sure Mr. Elliot must have had some weighty
reason for making two species out of the skins he received, I should be glad to know what the distinctions
on which he relies really are. If there really are two species, I can only say that they so closely resemble
each other as to make it impossible to discriminate them without being told in what points they differ, that
they are both found in the same localities in a small tract of country, and that the natives (who are
exceedingly good a t discriminating species, as I know from my personal experience) have only one name
for them—Kirghanl. The majority of the specimens I have seen approximate most to the plate of
P . insignis; but if, as I believe is the case, there be only one species of Pheasant of Yarkand, I feel sure
that Mr. Elliot will be the first to agree that it should stand as Phasianus shawi in honour of Mr. R.
B. Shaw, who was the first to introduce this beautiful Pheasant to the notice o f Europeans.”
I am indebted for the loan of the fine pair figured in the Plate to the kindness of Captain Biddulph, who
shot them himself during the Mission to Yarkand under Sir D. Forsyth.
The figures are somewhat less than the size of life.
mmi