Pheasant.

So called from Phasis, a stream of the Black Sea.

“There was formerly at the fort of Poti a preserve of pheasants, which birds derive their European name from the river Phasis (the present Rion).”—Lieut.-General Monteith.

· ·

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.