The JAPANESE PHEASANT (_Phasianus versicolor_) has the head green and
the upper part of the neck shaded with blue; the nape and entire under
side are dark green, deepening to pale black at the sides and centre
of the belly; the mantle-feathers are blackish green, surrounded by
a horseshoe-shaped line of reddish yellow, edged with rust-red; the
feathers of the upper wing and tail covers are blueish greyish green; the
quills brownish grey, with light stripes; and the tail-feathers reddish
grey, marked with black. The eye is light brown, the beak whitish grey,
and the foot light brownish grey. The male is twenty-seven inches long
and twenty-nine broad; the wing measures eight and the tail fifteen
inches. The plumage of the hen differs from that of all the species
above-mentioned, her feathers having a dark green centre, surrounded by a
broad light brownish grey or light yellow border.
[Illustration: THE GOLDEN PHEASANT (_Thaumalea picta_).]
These Pheasants are natives of Japan. In 1840 a pair of them were
purchased by the Earl of Derby, of which the male only arrived at
Knowsley; and from this bird and a female of the Common Pheasant have been
derived the Green Pheasants, now so numerous in England. In form, habits,
and disposition, this species resembles the Common Pheasant more nearly
than the _Phasianus torquatus_, and has less disposition to wander.