Pheasants; their natural history and practical management . nct species or race known inEurope, that which is named the P. colchicus, from its havingbeing received from the banks of the River Colchis in AsiaMinor. This was followed by the ring-necked P. torquatusfrom China, and subsequently by the P. versicolor fromJapan. These were originally regarded by naturalists asperfectly distinct species, but it is now known that they breedfreely with one another, and that the oiispring are perfectlyfertile, however intimately they are interbred. The lateHenry Seebohm, who paid great attention to the b
Pheasants; their natural history and practical management . nct species or race known inEurope, that which is named the P. colchicus, from its havingbeing received from the banks of the River Colchis in AsiaMinor. This was followed by the ring-necked P. torquatusfrom China, and subsequently by the P. versicolor fromJapan. These were originally regarded by naturalists asperfectly distinct species, but it is now known that they breedfreely with one another, and that the oiispring are perfectlyfertile, however intimately they are interbred. The lateHenry Seebohm, who paid great attention to the birds ofthis group, writing in the Ihis for 1887, said: The fact that all true pheasants interbreed freely witheach other and produce fertile offspring, may be accepted asabsolute proof that they are only subspecifically distinctfrom each other. Like all other sub-species, they only existupon sufferance. The local races appear to be distinctenough, but they only retain their distinctive character aslong as they are isolated from each other. The moment they. gW Phr O o THE COMMON PHEASANT. 151 are brought into contact they begin to interbreed ; crosses ofevery kind rapidly appear, and in a comparatively short timethe swamping effects of interbreeding reduce the two ormore local races which have been brought into contact to asingle and uniform intermediate race. Such swamping:effects of interbreeding have practically stamped out in the-British Islands the two very different looking races ofpheasants which were introduced into them—Phasianus-colchicus from Asia Minor, and Phasianus torquatus fromChina. The pheasant of the British Islands is, with jreryrare exceptions, only a mongrel between these two races, but,,it must be admitted, a very healthy and fertile one. The intermingling of the several races in the course ofages, and the isolation of the different breeds in the valleys-and river systems of Asia, have given rise to numerous sub-species which are found spread over that v
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, common=commonpheasant, taxonomy
