Black Pheasant

I live a couple of miles from the last livestock auction in Connecticut and I swing in there now and again to see what's up. Tonight, I saw a crate labeled " Black Pheasants 4 months old." I stuck around, and when the birds were held up for inspection, I saw something I never saw before. Black pheasants. I am not talking black mutant or melanistic pheasants, I am talking black like a crow. I had to do a double take TO MAKE SURE THEY WEREN'T DYED. There were three, one with big red wattles and nub spurs, and two others that appeared to be female, but one had tiny spurs. All three had little patches of white near the neck, black legs, but no shiny spots of green or irredescent coloring. Black feathers, like a crow. The beaks are also darker than my common ring necks. I had about $100.00 on me but I won with a ($10.00x3) $30.00 bid. I might have gone to $60.00, just out of curiosity. My ring necks in an adjacent pen were scared of them. They are in isolation because I don't know if they are sick or not. They appear to be two hens and one rooster ring neck pheasant, with black feathers. According to a guy I talked to, they were developed by " Mclellan's" ? and only released to the public three years ago. Sounds odd to me, but what the hell, $30.00. Anyone know anything about them ?