DCHP-1 Online

pheasant

• 1 n. a species of grouse, Pedicetes phasianellus, found in the West and North.

  See also: sharp-tailed grouse  

  • 1743  (1949)  Pheasants are likewise smaller than in England. . . .
  • 1823  The bird now under consideration is well known and common in the neighborhood of the Hudson's Bay settlements, where it is called the Pheasant or Sharp-tailed Grouse.
  • 1896  Then there [is] the prairie-chicken, or the sharp-tailed grouse . . . which in the North Country is called pheasant.
  • 1959  Sharp-tailed Grouse [is also called] pheasant ("Hudson Bay" . . .)

• 2 n. See quote.

  • 1959  Ruffed Grouse [is also called] pheasant (N.B., "Keewatin," Sask., B.C.); pine pheasant (Eastern Canada). . . .