Nature notes: golden pheasants

A male golden pheasant has been seen on one or two mornings recently, wandering along a road at the Wolferton Triangle, near Sandringham , in Norfolk. There are thought to be about 100 pairs of these exotic birds living in the wild in Britain, and this part of Norfolk is where they have been seen most often in recent years. The males are birds of amazing appearance, with a golden-yellow head, a green and yellow back, and a strawberry-coloured breast, as well as a long, sweeping tail. The female is barred black and brown. They were introduced here from the mountains of China over 100 years ago, and can be quite often found in aviary collections, but in the woods they are very secretive. Other