RING-NECKED PHEASANT 321 



himself to be flushed by the sportsman, he may sometimes hide, or, 

 worse still from the point of view of the owner of a well-trained 

 dog, he may run long distances and entice the dog to follow. Only 

 by continuous replacement with birds raised on private or State 

 farms can the drain on pheasants by hunters be checked, for in 

 these days of automobiles hunters may visit numerous favorable 

 localities many miles apart in the course of one day. 



A very important asset of the ring-necked pheasant, both from 

 the sportsman's and the bird lover's point of view, is that it diverts 

 gunfire from our fast-diminishing grouse and other game birds. 



As the natural habitat of the ruffed grouse is in woods, while 

 that of the pheasant is usually in open fields and pastures, there is 

 no direct conflict between these two birds, and from this point 

 of view there seems to be no harm resulting to the ruffed grouse 

 from pheasant introduction. On the other hand, bobwhites, hav- 

 ing much the same habitat as the pheasant, might be displaced by the 

 latter bird if there were not enough food for both. Dr. George W. 

 Field (1914) does not think there is any evidence that the pheasant 

 interferes with our native game and says: 



More conclusive is the testimony from records of the great shooting 

 estates in England, Scotland, and Germany, where for at least two genera- 

 tions accurate records have heen kept of the number of birds produced an- 

 nually on each estate. These records show conclusively that there has been 

 no diminution in the number of native grouse and quail, and no displacement 

 of these birds by the introduced and naturalized pheasant, which is here pro- 

 duced in larger quantities than on any similar area in the world. 



In this connection the remarks of W. L. McAtee (1929) are perti- 

 nent: 



There is little fear, however, that any of the large and highly edible species 

 classed as game birds will continue for any period as pests. Should they 

 exhibit destructive tendencies their numbers can easily be cut down by the 

 extension of the open season and increase in the bag limits. No bird that 

 is widely prized for food is ever likely to become destructively abundant in 

 the United States. 



There is, however, a subtle danger from the introduced pheasant, 

 that of carrying to our native game blackhead, the heterakis worm, 

 and other diseases and parasites. Prevalence of the heterakis worm 

 in wild pheasants has been shown by Dr. E. E. Tyzzer. McAtee 

 (1929) does not think that this danger should be given much weight 

 " in view of the fact that domestic poultry is constantly being intro- 

 duced, abounds in all parts of the country, and constitutes a source 

 and reservoir of most of the diseases to which our game birds are 

 susceptible. In other words, the disease hazard is scarcely likely to 

 be notably increased by further introductions of game birds. There 

 should, of course, be proper inspections of imported birds and ex- 



