PUCHAS! X ANT H O S P i ! . , .
PUCRASIA XANTHOSPILA.
BUFF-SPOTTED PUORASI-A.
PUCRASIA XANTHOSPILA, G. R. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1864) p. 259, pi. xx.—Id. List Gall. (1867) p. 31.—Gould, B. o f Asia, Pt, xxi.—
ZqoI. Sog,' i('1866.)_;p. 437.—Pere David, Nouv. Arch.Mus. (1867): p.: 37.
P. DAVIDLANA, Milne-Edw: Archiv‘.^dp: Mus; (1864) p. 1 5 .:
H ab . China, Tunglin, 1 0 6 miles N.E. o f Pekin ( S a u k in ) ; Mountains north and west o f Pekin, Mongolia (D a v i d ) ; North and
west of Hankow ( S w in h o e ) . • '
T h i s fine species of Pucrasia, although resembling somewhat in its markings the common Cocklass Pheasant of India, is nevertheless
very distinct from it, and makes a handsome addition to this particular section of,.|he Phasianidæ. The first specimens were,
brought to England^ from China by the late S ir Fred. W. A. Bruce, K.C.B., and presented to the British Museum. They were
male and female, and were described by Mr. Gray as above quoted. The exact locality inhabited- by this bird was not stated at
the timé ; but in a later communication* to the Zoological Society from Mr. Saurin, which is given below, the mountains to the
north-east of Pekin are said to be its habitat. No account has yet reached us regarding the economy or manner of life of the
P . xanthospila ; but it cannot be supposed that it would differ much in .these respects from its relative the P . macrolopha.
Since-the-type specimens were received, other examples "have from time .to time been sent from China; and lately, through the
efforts of Mr. Medhurst, H.M. Consul, a miîle and two females have been forwarded to Mr. Stone, by whose instrumentality so
many of the rarer species of Pheasants have been brought to England. The living examples above mentioned were deposited by
their owner in the Society’s Gardens, Regent’s Park, and are now (August 1870) residing there in excellent condition. At first
they were wild,-and Shunned the gaze of all who approached their enclosure, buf they are becoming reconciled gradually to their
confinement, the hens more particularly, and feed quietly without exhibiting any fear. With the exception, I believe, o f a single
individual received a y ea r Or more ago a t the Jardin d’AccUmatation, in- the Bois du Boulogne, Paris, these are the only representatives
of this species which have reached Europe alive. ,v!j The species without doubt could be induced to breed in the aviary, and
would form a desirable acquisition to parks and preserves.
“ The Pucrasia xanthospila,” says Mr. Saurin, “ is by thé Chinese called Sung-chi, or Pine-fowl. This bird is always to be found
in the Pekin market, though' in far inferior numbers to the common Pheasant; they are brought unfrozen, and sometimes alive,
and never, as far as I have seen, by the Mongols ; they, consequently, áre probably confined to the mountains enclosing China
proper on the north and west. The only place from which, to my knowledge, they have been brought is the Tung-lin, or eastern
woods, where are the tombs of the present dynasty, about 100 miles north-east of Pekin, amongst the issues of th e mountains which
run down into the plain east of Ku-peh-kow, or the old north gate through the Great Wall. The Sung-clii is considered very
good eating ; and its • flesh has a rather peculiar, aromatic flavour.”
Mr. Swinhoe has kindly favoured me with the following :—“ Dr. Lamprey was the first to point out the existence of this species, in
a letter to the Zoological Society of-London. He found|jpm the market à t Tientsiu in 1861, and- spoke highly of its flesh for the
table. Specimens were sent to Paris in 1863, by Père Armand David, from Pekin ; and it was described in 1864, by M. Milne-Edwards,
as P . Davidiana, but not till it ha,d already been described bÿ Mr. G. R. Gray. Père David found it on the mountains north and
west of Pekin, extending into Mongolia; and it has since been met with on the west and north-west of Hankow. I t having been
found dwelling where the temperature was 15° below zero in winter, among the pine-forests, it might, if introduced, become easily
acclimatized in Scotland, or in the north of Europe.”
Père David, in his excellent list of birds published in the ‘Nouvelles Archives du Muséum,’ says of this species, “ J e possédais
ce gallmâcé dès la fin de 186*2, mais le Muséum ne put en faire la description qu’en 1864. C’est un excellent gibier que je
n’ai - retrouvé qu’à Ta-Tchio-Chan, à Jéhol e t dans l’Ourato, où il affectionne les bois -les plus touffus. Chaque hiver on en vend
à Pékin, provenant de la Mantcliourie.”
T h é male has the upper part of the head and throat very dark green ; two long tufts -extend from the back o f the head, as
in its relative ; the shorter feathers light brown, the longer dark green. A conspicuous whitè spot on each side of the neck.
A ring passings round the back part of the neck, starting- from the chestnut of the breast, light buff. Feathers of the upper
part long and-lanceolate, dark grey, with a hroad longitudinal line of black near the centre. ' Primaries blackish brown on the
inner web, yellowish white on the outer. Secondaries mottled with black and reddish brown, with a line along the centres white.
The central- tail-feathers. have the edges and centres grey, with a broad longitudinal stripe of chestnut on each side dmded from the
grey by a narrower line of - black* ; ^ rest of feathers, leaden grey, with two or three irregular bars of black, • tips white, and
inner edges black. Centre of the breast and abdomen deép chestnut. Flanks marked like the back, but lighter. Under taiU