C pS SOPTILO MANTc : UU -UM
fROSiOPTILON MANTCHÜRICUM.
MANTCHUßlll? EAEED PHEASANT.
GROSSOPTILON AURITUM,.Sclat, Proc..Zool. Soc. (1863) p. 118, sp..2.—Saurin, Proc. Zool.,Soc. (1866) p. 4 3 7—David, Nouv. Archiv, du
Mus. (1867);p. 37.—Gould, B.!ofsAsia,,pt;ixxii. pi —Bartl. Proc, Zool. Soc. (1868) p. 115.
C. AURITUM sive MANTGHURICUM,- Swinh: Proc. Zool. Soc. (1862) p. 286.
C. MANTCHURICUM, Gray, List Gall. (1867)’ p. 31.—Id. Hand-1. Birds, p t.ii. p. 259, ho; 9592.
HAB. AGhinä,' North-east of Pekin (S a u b in ) /-1 Mantchuria (SwinhOe ).
When this species was first brought to Europe, it was supposed to be the Ç. auritum . o f■. Pallas, described , in his ‘ Zoographia
Rosso-Asiatica;' b u tto n a careful comparison between the present bird and Pallas’s description a considerable difference was
found to exist—so great, indeed, as to warrant a new title to be given to the subject of this article,.which.was accordingly
done by Mr. Swinhoe, who, in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1862, bestowed upon it the name of manlchuricum.
Within a short time Père David has obtained another species o f this genus in the province, of Kokouoor, in Eastern Thibet,
and sent it t o ‘ the' Paris Museum, where we trust it may arrive in safety. This will probably prove to be Pallas’s species,
as, according to Père David, it ’is o f a blue colour, agreeing in this respect with P . auritum, which has the “ neck, the whole
body as fa r as the rump, together with the bases o f the wings, o f one uniform bluish leaden,” while this' species, as can easily be
seen by referring to the Plate, has the back, belly, and wings deep ’ chocolate-brown. I therefore adopt Mr. Swinhoe’s name for
this bird, believing his view of the case the correct bug,,.- I hope to give a figure of Père David’s bird as soon as possible
after its arrival;
Mr. Saurin gives the following account of this species :—“ Pallas’s Eared Pheasant ( Crossoptilon auritum) is found rarely in the market,
though perhaps oftener than the Reeves’s Pheasant. I t is not found in the Tung-lin, but in the mountains to the north-west of
Pekin, within the Great Wall, about 100 miles distant. The place is well known for its coal-mines, and has frequently been visited
by Europeans—amongst others, by the French Minister, M. Berthéney, the French Missionaries, and several of our Student
Interpreters. M. Berthéney, who is a sportsman and fond of natural history, thinks that, taking into consideration the comparative
tameness of the bird and the fact that since Europeans have come to Pekin the peasants have always found a good market for
the nests, this rare bird, which, so far as we know, is only to' be found a t this one spot, cannot fail soon to become extinct.
Chinese guides, it is true, have assured ine that it is to be found in the Wei-chung, or Imperial hunting-grounds, which I passed
through last autumn ; but no reliance can be placed on their statements, even if the bird were called by the same name in so
very distant a part of the country.
“ The Chinese name is Ho-chi, either “ River-fowl” or “ Fire-fowl.” The translation depends on the character; and the peasants,
who gave it the name, know nothing of characters ; while the students, who know characters, are quite ignorant of natural history.
“ Pallas’s Pheasant is never brought by Mongols, or frozen; therefore ‘ mantchuriçum’ (the name applied to it by Mr. Swinhoe). is
a misnomer. The hen lays towards the end of May; the egg is larger than a common Fowl’s, and, as far as I can recollect,
rather bluish in tint. The Chinese, who bring these birds in, feed them with a kind of millet-cake ; they are also very fond of
barley, which is grown in quautities in the mountain-valleys.”
My friend, Mr. Robert Swinhoe, so wefr known for his able contributions to our knowledge' o f the ornithology of China, thus
writes to me regarding this species:— “ This bird is found in the hills, north of Pekin, in Mantchuria, and.brought in winter to Pekin
in large numbers, both alive and dead. I t is called by the natives the Ho-ke. The character Ho is a peculiar one, and especially
applied to this bird from ancient times. It does not mean Fire, as Mr. Saurin states in his account of the bird in the ‘ Proceedings
of the Zoological Society.’ K e means Fowl. The feathers of this bird were formerly worn by Tartar warriors. I have not seen
the species in its wild state.”
Père David, writing of this bird, which he supposed to be'Pallas’s species of auritum, as has been the case with most ornithologists,
says :—
Cet oiseau v it en petit nombre dans les endroits les plus boisés de nos montagnes, de même que l’Eulophe, que j ’ai rencontré dans les
mêmes localités. Les trois Crossoptilon que j ’ai tués en juillet avaient le jabot rempli de feuilles de cytise ; en hiver, j ’y ai trouvé des noisettes,
divers pépins, des feuilles d’armoise, de fougères et surtout des racines d’orchidées et autres racines, succulentes, des coléoptères, des vers, des
chenilles. Une chose qui m’a frappé c’est que quand j ’ai tué deux mâles et une femelle adultes en juillet, il y avait quatre vieux et une quinzaine
de jeunes (gris), et qu’ils étaient tous réunis, qu’ils venaient de paraître ensemble dans un champ voisin. Etaient-cedeux compagnies réunies?
Ces oiseaux perchent volontiers, e t tiennent la queue disposée en toit aigu et relevée comme' la queue de la poule commune. Iris orange ;
pieds et bec comme ils sont dans les sujets morts.