A winning pheasant variety — by a neck

The pheasant is not our own but we have made it right at home and it has adapted beautifully to its adoptive land, says Edgar N. Barclay

Alien though it may be, the pheasant has been with us so long, has played so large a part in country life, and blends so perfectly with our autumn landscape that it is difficult to believe that it is not indigenous. The assumption, however, that the Romans introduced it into Britain is probably correct, for we know they held the bird in high esteem. It seems equally certain that the variety they introduced was Phasianus colchicus, named after the river Colchis in Asia Minor and known to us as the old English blackneck. It would not now be easy to find a pure-bred wild pheasant here for almost all show a trace of white feathers on the neck.

These white feathers are evidence of the influence of the Chinese ringnecked pheasant, P.C. torquatus, which appears to have been widely introduced during the latter part of the 18th century. This closely allied variety, with its pronounced white neck ring and generally paler hue, interbred freely with the blacknecks and the blood of these two greatly predominates in the British pheasant of today. The ring-necked bird proved well adapted to our climate. Naturally hardy, an early and prolific layer and a bird of bold flight, it transmitted these good qualities to its cross-bred progeny. The Formosan pheasant, introduced much later, is a local variety distinguished by being somewhat paler on the flanks, though otherwise embodying the same characteristics as birds from the mainland.

Other varieties

During the years when pheasant rearing was at its zenith, several other varieties were introduced. Though the visible results of these crossings have been almost entirely lost, they no doubt contributed something to the hardy, adaptable and selfsupporting British wild pheasant.

The Mongolian pheasant, P.C. mongolicus, was a notable addition. A large and handsome dark coppercoloured bird, with a partial white collar and white wing coverts but lacking the ear tufts of the previous varieties, it was never introduced in sufficient numbers to become dominant. Male hybrids have much the same appearance and size as pure-bred Mongolians, so had they been introduced in greater numbers and more widely distributed they might well have exercised as great an influence as the Chinese ring-neck.

Both pure-bred and half-bred Mongolians were reared with great success at Tring and the late Lord Rothschild was greatly impressed by their qualities. They rose freely, flew strongly, and birds of the year, hatched in June, weighed as much as two-year-old common pheasants.

The beautiful little Japanese pheasant,

P. versicolor, distinguished from other varieties by its crown

Syrmaticus reevesii,

An illustration of better known as the Reeves’ pheasant