. J.Wolf. & J . S trut,cle l. eb . l il i i .
H Y BP. ID P H E A S A N T .
II Y Bill I) PHEASANT.
T h e beau tifu l h y b rid w h ich is re p re se n te d in th e ac companying p la te is th e offspring o f a m a le Thavmalea
Am h e rstia a n d a fema le Thaumalea p ic ta , an d was b ^ |d in M r. S tone’s aviary. T h e individua l w h o se p o rtra it is
h e r e given w a s dep o sited in th e Ga rd en s a t R e g e n t’s P a rk , an d was placed in th e same enclosure w ith th e Golden
P h e a sa n ts , n e x t to th e one c o n ta in in g th e Amherst, b o th o f w h ich in size an d b rillian cy o f dre ss h e eclipsed. T h e
m a rk in g s a re v e ry re g u la r, th e colours p erfec tly we ll d istrib u te d , a n d no m in g lin g o f h u es o r m o ttlin g an yw h ere
visible, w ith t h e . ex c ep tio n o f th e th r o a t ,, wh e re th e re d o f p ic ta a n d th e d a rk gre en, o f Amh e rstia s tru g g le for th e
mastery,, w h ich n e ith e r achieves. T h e im p u rity o f th e b ird ’s d e sc en t is sho\yn, however^ in th e bro k e n b a r o f buff
across th e u p p e r p a r t o f th e b re a s t, th e bar sinister in a n oth erw ise a p p a re n tly fa ir escutcheon. W h e n c e th is
p a rtic u la r colour i s derived, i t w o u ld b e difficult to say, as th e h e n ’s b re a s t, alth o u g h a m u c h d a rk e r buff, is closely
b a r re d w ith d a rk b row n ; whe rea s th e b a r o f th e b ird before u s is devoid o.f an y su ch m arkings, or, indeed, any
w h a te v e r. T h e m a le of n e ith e r o f th e t r u e . species possesses an y b u ff o n h is b re ast. I t comes ju s t w h e re th e
w h ite b re a s t o f th e m a le A m h e rs t b e g in s ; a n d i t m a y b e a n in d ic a tio n o f th is h u e ende avouring to a sse rt itse lf
th ro u g h th e crimson, w h ich , pro v in g to o s tro n g for it, o n ly p e rm its i t to b e indicated b y th e lig h t buff. I saw a t
A n tw e rp (November 1871) an o th e r h y b rid , exa ctly similar to th e one h e r e depic ted, equally h a n d som e ; b u t th e b uff
o n th e b re a s t w a s re s tric te d to a la rg e sp o t on e ith e r side.
C o n tra ry to m y in te n tio n o f n o t fig u rin g a n y h y b rid P h e a sa n ts , I h av e b e e n in d u ced to sh ow th is one, mere ly
from its g re a t b e a u ty a n d th e com p a rativ e ra rity o f one a t le a st o f its p a r e n t s ; b u t, a t tb e same tim e , I ca n n o t b u t
believe th a t all th o se who b re ed P h e a sa n ts , e ith e r for plea su re o r profit, w ould b e s t c o n su lt th e ir own in te re s ts b y
k e e p in g th en ' b ird s as p u re in blood a s possible, allowing no fo re ig n s tra in to in te rm in g le , an d re so lu te ly s e ttin g th e ir
fa ces a g a in st even su ch a m ag n ificen t im p o sto r a s h e r e offers h im se lf for o u r admira tion.