EUPI OC MUS [NHOE
K l / P L O C A M C S 8 W I N H O I I .
SWINHOE’S : PHEASANT.
EUPLOCAMUS SWINHOII, Gould, Proc. Zoól. Soc. (1-863) p. -284—Id. B. of Asia, pi —Sclat.-Proc. Zool.,Sqc. (1863), p. 119, no. 5.—Gray
List Gall. (Í8j67) p. 34.—Swinhoe, Ibis (l;863), p. 401 ;<1865), p. 538; and (1866), p. 30^.—Sclat. Wolfs Zool. Sketch, 2nd ser,
' '41867) pi. r.
H a s , Formosa.
T h e first account we have of . this magnificent , species is in some, remarks pn;Formosan ornithplogy.^puhlished Jjy Mr. .Swinhoe
in ‘ The, Ibis for 18.63, < H e , there says¡:— “ I, was infprmed ;by iny hunters that a second species pjf. Pheasant, which was
denominated by the Chinese colonists Wá-kojé, was found in the interior mountains, that it whs a true jungle-bird, frequenting
the wild hill-ranges of the aborigines, apd rarely descending to* t h | lower hills that border on the Chinese territory, and that in
the evening and early morning the male was in the habit of showing himself on an exposed branch .o r ro o f, of a savage’s hut,
uttering .his crowing defiant note, while lie strutted and threw up his t a i j^ k g la rooster. T offered rewards, and encouraged my
m en 'to do their utmost to procure me specimens of this bird,, and I was isp/'far successful that I managed;Jo obtain ,a p a ir;
but in. my. trip to, the interior it was in vain that I sought to get a view of it in its'' native haunts; and.,to make acquaintance
with it in a state of nature.
“ The female was brought to me on the 1st of April, soon after it was shot,—the heat of the. weather compelling the hunters
to skin it before they could reagh me,. It was, however, quite fresh enough to enable me to note the tints of its soft parts.
‘ Naked. Iffateli on cheek large anti conspicuously red. Bill dark greyish brown. Legs a clear vermilion, the scale-joints and sole-
pads, as wéll as the. claws, being dingy yellowish brown. Tail rounded, and consisting of sixteen feathers;’
“»The fresh skin of tfre male arrived on the 11th 'April. My hunters had taken this bird alive; but it battered itself so, that
they were obliged to kill it to save its Feathers.”
On the 1st Juñe,. 1865, Mr. Sw¡nhoe writés to the .E d ito rlp f ‘The Ibis ’., as follows 1 was obliged to pass over the close
of last ^month for want óf time. This letter must contain my report for April; and May. On the 6tlv o f April my men rushed
in with a fine old cock Euplocamus Swinhoii. It was captured in the hills some eighty miles off, and only jdied the day before it
reached me. It was in very good conditipn, but had lost a, few of the márpon .scapular-feathers. * * # I hope before long to
introduce this magnificent species- to the general public at home, through the Gardens. One fine male has already gone forward,
through Dr. Squire, by way of Calcutta; and¡¿F\have sent several more of both sexes to Hong Kong for direct shipment. When
disturbed in its cage, -the bird utters a sound* like ‘ hah-sh,’ and ruffles up its feathers. It has also a chuckling note, chiefly
uttered by the females, These are much more weakly than the cocks, and sooner succumb to fate. Among several pairs brought
to me from the Tamsuy neighbourhood was one cock of a variety which the Chinese call Aw-kak. This has’ n o ’white about it.
The crest is black, the dorsal feathers are maroon, like '-the scapulars, and the middle rectrices are '¿lack. This specimen
unfortunately escaped, and was killed and plucked by ‘ outside Chinese’ before I got hold of it again... I procured at Tamsuy a
similar example; but it had more or less white on the parts where it is found in the normal form. This led me a t the time
to imagine that th is . peculiar plumage was only a stage towards maturity. According to the Chinese,, the form without white is
common enough. They distinguish it as a separate , species, but also insist that there is a third one, which, as far as I
can make out (for I have not yet seen it), would appear to be the bird in its first year’s plumage. I must investigate the case
further before I can speak of it with confidence.”
In a later communication on- the Ornitholbgy of Formosa, Mr. Swinhoe, speaking, o f ,these varieties, says:—“ I have seen many
males with a plumage intermediate to that of the adult o f their own sex and tliat of the females. This plumage is carried
through the winter; but it varies in its resemblance to the one sex or the other. I thought a t first that such birds were
melanite varieties, especially as the Chinese distinguished them by a distinct name, Aw-bay-kak (black-tailed m ale); but I consider
now that they aje only young males, in the transition-plumage, which they carry till? the next vernal moult. In this respect they
would appear to differ from the true Phasiani, which burst full-blown into the adult costume a t their first moult in the autumn
after they appear in the world.” Since the d isco v ery ^ f this beautiful - bird by Mr. Swinhoe, many firing examples have been
received in England and on the C o n tin e n t;so that at the present time there is.; hardly a zoological garden in which it is not
represented. It appears to bear confinement very well, becomes easily accustomed to its . restricted quarters, and breeds readily.
It is graceful in its carriage, and appears to great advantage as it walks proudly about its enclosure. The young males do not
at fii;st acquire-the plumage of the adult, and might easily be mistaken for another species by one not acquainted with the fact;
so different are they when arrayed in ' ílieir full dress, which is only acquired at the commencement o f their second year. This
species will probably in a few years become one of the commonest of the Phiasianidas which have been naturalized in Europe, and
would adorn any preserve into which it might be introduced. Swinhoe’s Pheasant is nearest in the classification of this family