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Feb/55/ Gould showed me a set of Pheasants — a so called pale Bohemian var. shot in England.

Thinks our pheasant hybrids; but ours differs slightly & very slightly (3) from the Colchican pheasant: there are, however, slight differences in transverse bars of tail & in white collar more or less perfect in some of our British Pheasants. There is a Chinese pheasant with white collar, which has been turned out & will live in England, but this differs considerably from our common Pheasant. There is an Altair Pheasant white-collared pheasant closer to ours, but then this is not known to have been turned out, & even its skins are excessively rare. Altogether I think it far more probable that the Colchican pheasant has sported in manner analogous to other species. (viz in white collar & in bars on tail) than that it has been hybridized.

Gould took opposite view

17

(Q)

[Quoted in Natural selection, p. 439.]