This pheasant was discovered by Robert Swinhoe when he was H.M. Consul at Ningpo, China, from the same mountain ranges where Eliiot's Pheasant (Asia, VII, pl.23) had been found. Swinhoe described it as differing from the Chinese Pucras Pheasant (Asia, VII, pl.24) in various plumage details. The crest was much darker with some of the feathers having a central yellow streak, the sides of the body were washed with a warm sienna instead of lemon-white streaked with black, and a single line of black feathers margined with grey and streaked with chestnut ran down the middle of the rump.
This species was dedicated by Swinhoe to Charles Darwin, F.R.S. (1809-1882), as a compliment to his scientific achievements.
The male and female are almost lifesize.
R. Swinhoe, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1872, p.552
D.G. Elliot, Monograph of the Phasianidae, I, pl.30 b.
DISTRIBUTION: Southern Asia: eastern Afghanistan east through the Himalayas of northern Pakistan and northern India to Nepal and to eastern Tibet and central and eastern China. The birds depicted belong to the subspecies Pucrasia macrolopha darwini, Darwin's Koklass Pheasant which is resident in the mountains near Itchang (Hupeh), southwestern Szechwan, Chekiang, Fukien, and northern Kwangtung