On the change in the plumage of some hen-pheasants

The last shooting season having been unusually productive of hen-pheasants, which have assumed more or less the plumage and appearance of the male, much discussion in consequence has arisen on the cause of this change; and the author having had many opportunities of examining the facts, both as respecting the pheasant and domestic fowl, was induced to notice the internal peculiarities which invariably accompany this transformation. According to an opinion of Mr. J. Hunter and of Mr. Butter, this change only takes place at an advanced age; but the author considers the facts in his possession as at variance with this idea, and that the appearances in question may occur at any period of life, and may even be produced artificially. In all the instances examined by him, the sexual organs were found diseased, and to a greater or less extent in proportion to the change of plumage. The ovarium was shrunk, purple, and hard; the oviduct diseased, and the canal obliterated at the upper part, immediately preceding its funnel-shaped enlargement at the bottom of the ovarium. Having opened a hen-pheasant in its natural plumage, for the sake of comparison, he found a similar diseased state of the organs to exist; thus proving that the disease must exist some time before the corresponding change of feathers takes place.