David Thomas, age 12, of Meridian, Miss., for his question:
WHERE DO PHEASANTS COME FROM?
A pheasant is one of a group of colorful game birds that actually belongs to the same family as the domestic fowl and the peacock. The word pheasant comes from Phasis, the name of a river in the ancient country of Colchis. The Phasis is now the Rion River in southwestern Russia near the Black Sea.
Pheasants have always lived in large numbers in this area of southwestern Russia. According to historians, the birds were first exported from this section of the world to Europe and other locations.
Two of the best known pheasants are the so called English pheasant and the Chinese ring necked pheasant. The Romans supposedly brought the English pheasant to England while the ring necked pheasant went to China from Asia Minor.
English and Chinese ring necked pheasants were introduced into North America around 1880, and they quickly adjusted to their new home. Some of the birds have interbred.
In the Dakotas and in Manitoba the pheasants have helped to create what hunters call a paradise. In many other states and provinces, the pheasants have also become important game birds.
The male ring necked pheasant is a bird of brown, red, golden, buff, blue and black plumage, usually with a white ring around its neck. The bird weighs between two and a half and four and a half pounds. The female is less brightly colored and smaller.
Pheasants nest on the ground. The female lays from six to 16 eggs that are olive buff in color. The eggs are laid in hollows among the leaves.
The birds eat berries, seeds and insects. In some areas they have become so numerous as to be a menace to grain fields. But their insect eating habits are helpful to farmers.
Among other well known species of pheasants are the golden pheasant, so called from the golden yellow crest and bright yellow breast, and the beautiful Chinese silver pheasant.
A well known species found in Central and Eastern Asia is the eared pheasant. The name refers to the long white tufts of features on the sides of the head., Their colorful and beautiful feathers have been in demand for use as hat trimmings. As a result of this, there has been a great reduction in their numbers.
Male pheasants are called cocks. Especially colorful are the English pheasant cocks. Their heads and necks are a bright green. The under parts of their bodies are bronze red while the sides of their bodies are reddish brown tipped with blue black. Their long, tapering tails are gray, marked with bands of black.
In different light, the English pheasants' feathers reflect varying shades of black, green, purple and gold.
The female birds are of a yellowish brown color with markings of a darker brown.
The cocks are about three feet long. The tail takes up at least half of this length. The females are about one foot shorter than the males.