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Show 1866.] MR. D. SAURIN O N T H E PHEASANTS OF PEKIN. 437 Russian port of Poussiet, conterminous with Corea, the same Pheasant abounds. I myself have seen them wild in the Imperial hunting-grounds north of Jehol, and in the mountains near Ku-peh-kow. 2. The Pucrasia xanthospila*, by the 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 are probably confined to the mountains enclosing China proper on the north and west. The only place from which, to m y 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 the mountains which run down into the plain east of Ku-peh-kow, or the old north gate through the Great Wall. The Sung-chi is considered very good eating, and its flesh has a rather peculiar aromatic flavour. 3. The Reeves's Pheasant (Ph. reevesii), called by the Chinese Chi-chi, is seen very rarely in the Pekin market. For a long time I failed to discover from what quarter they came, as some specimens had been obtained at Tientsing, and some people pretended they were brought from Shantung. Last winter, however, I ascertained that they, too, came from the Tung-lin ; and I have reason to suppose that they are to be found nowhere else in the province of Chi-li. About twenty birds were brought down alive last winter. They are never brought in frozen, or by Mongols. Their flesh is very delicious, and superior, to m y taste, to that of any other Pheasant. 4. Pallas's Eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon auritum) is found rarely in the market, though perhaps oftener than the Reeves's Pheasant. It is not found in the Tung-lin, but in the mountains to the northwest of Pekin, within the Great Wall, about 100 miles distant. The place is well known for its coal-mines, and has frequently been visited by Europeans, amongst others by the French Minister, M . Bertheney, the French Missionaries, and several of our Student Interpreters. M. Bertheney, who is a sportsman and fond of natural history, thinks that, taking into consideration the comparative tame-ness of the bird, and the fact that since Europeans have come to Pekin the peasants have always found a good market for the nests, this rare bird, which, so far as we know, is only to be found at this one spot, cannot fail soon to become extinct. Chinese guides, it is true, have assured me that it is to be found in the Wei-chung, or Imperial hunting-grounds, which I passed through last autumn ; but no reliance can be placed on their statements, even if the bird were called by the same name in so very distant a part of the country. The Chinese name is Ho-chi, either "River-fowl" or "Fire-fowl." The translation depends on the character; and the peasants, who give it the name, know nothing of characters; while the students, who know characters, are quite ignorant of natural history. Pallas's Pheasant is never brought by Mongols, or frozen ; therefore ' mantchuricum' (the name applied to it by Mr. Swinhoe) is a * Described and figured by Mr. G. K. Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 259, pi. xx. |
