Chinese Ring-necked Pheasant.
Phasianus torquatus, Temm. Pig. e t Gall. tom. ii. p. 326 e t tom. iii. p. 670.—Gray, L ist o f Birds in Coll. Brit.
Mus. p a r t iii. p. 23.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of B irds, vol. iii. p. 497, Phasianus, sp. 2.—Blyth, Cat. of
Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 245.—Gray, 111. Ind. Zool. pl.
Alhn-torquatus. Bonnat. Ency. M6th. Om. p a r t i. p. 184.
China is the true and probably the restricted habitat of this beautiful species of Pheasant ; for although
various writers have stated that it is a native of India, we have no reliable evidence of its existing in a state
of nature in any part of that great country.
Of the introduction of living examples into England, numerous instances are on record. Latham, in his
“ General History of Birds,” states that it is said to have been “ first introduced by the late Duke of
Northumberland, and many were bred and turned out at his Grace’s seat a t Alnwick. Lord Carnarvon did
the same a t Highclere, in Berkshire, and the late Duchess Dowager of Portland at Bulstrode, Bucks.” More
recently it has been introduced upon the estates of other noblemen and gentlemen, and I am told is now very
numerous on th at of thé Earl of Stamford and Warrington. The consequence of this introduction has been
a cross between the Chinese bird and its near ally the Common Pheasant (Phasianus Colchicus), producing
the variety or Varieties known by the name of Ringnecks, and now so commonly killed in our woods. As a
matter of course, these hybrid birds do not closely accord in their markings with either of the true breeds ;
nor do they form a permanent variety ; no two, in fact, even from the same district, exhibiting precisely the
same character ; some specimens having their necks adorned with a well-defined ring, while in others it is
narrow and imperfect; the flank-feathers too assume an intermediate tint, and never present the pure
pale buff colouring of those feathers in the P . torquatus, or the dark colouring o f P . Colchicus. These
details, though apparently trivial, may not be regarded as unimportant when we take into consideration the
interest so generally evinced with respect to these varieties of the Pheasant; and the fact, that by the
min'din«' of the two species a prolific offspring has been produced ;—a circumstance, however, which must be
regarded as an exception to the general rule, for I believe that in few instances and with few forms would
such a result occur.
Some six or seven years ago, living examples of this species direct from China were added to the
menagerie of the Zoological Society of London, where they bred in such abundance as to admit of a distribution
of eggs and individuals to the owners of estates in various parts of England. In some situations they
readily crossed with the ordinary Pheasant, the produce being birds similar to the Ringnecks of the English
preserves.
Long p rior to any recorded instance of the introduction of the P . torquatus into England, a few pairs were
landed, at St. Helena, where, the vegetation being congenial to the habits and economy of the bird, they throve
amazingly, and in certain parts of the island they soon became and are' even now very numerous. From an
examination of the shins kindly forwarded, to me by Lady Ross, the drawings of Major Stack, and a fine
living male sent direct from the island, and now living in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, I find that
these birds do not differ from Chinese examples, except in being rather larger in size and in having a. more
lengthened tail, which may probably he due to the abundance of berries they obtain from a kind o f bramble
common on the island : 110 trace or taint of the P . Colchicus being observable, it would seem that China
alone has furnished the pheasants now so numerous at St. Helena. I am also indebted to the kindness of
Lady Ross for the following extracts from “ Brooks’s History of St. Helena,” respecting the introduction
of the Pheasant into the island :— .
• > In 1513, Fernandez Lopez was left in exile with a few negroes a t St. Helena, as a punishment (after
being maimed) for deserting from the army of Alplionso Albuquerque at Goa, in India: These were the
first inhabitants of the island. Roots and vegetables o f various kinds, fruit-trees and poultry were accordingly
landed for them, and partridges, pheasants', guinea-fowl, peacocks and other birds hit lo o se , Under the
fostering care of Lopez they increased abundantly, and in a few years overspread the face o f the country.”
Captain Cavendish, who visited the island on the 8th of June 1588, found “ no less plenty of pheasants,