PHEASANT 143 



Numerous other topics in connection with 

 Pheasants cannot be discussed at length ; it must 

 suffice to give references to a few of them. 



The speed of a Pheasant on the wing has 

 been estimated by Mr. Griffiths from a series 

 of experiments to be at the rate of 38 miles an 

 hour (Field, Feb. 19, 1887). Several instances 

 have been reported of Pheasants flying through 

 plate-glass windows, misled by the reflection of trees 

 on the glass {Field, Oct. 24, 1896, and March 13, 

 1897). Although not usually taking long flights, 

 they have been known to cross the Humber from 

 Yorkshire into Lincolnshire, near Grimsby (Cor- 

 deaux), though Mr. Millais saw five or six Phea- 

 sants which attempted to cross Loch Ness at Foyers, 

 where it is more than a mile wide, drop into the 

 water when about three-parts of the way across. 

 Pheasants if winged when crossing water will swim 

 ashore, and have been seen to take to the water 

 voluntarily [Field, Dec. 13, 1890). In a state of 

 nature they are polygamous ; eight to ten eggs are 

 usually laid ; the period of incubation is twenty- 

 four days. Sometimes a hen Pheasant will lay in 

 a Partridge's nest, and vice versa ; occasionally in a 

 tree many feet from the ground, in the deserted nest 

 of some other bird (ZooL, 1894, pp. 227, 266, and 

 Field, June 15, 1895, and May 1897); and in the 

 thatch of a straw-stack 10 feet from the ground 

 (Field, June 20, 1896). As to the suppression of 

 scent in a sitting Pheasant, so essential to its safety, 

 see Tegetmeier, " Pheasants," 3rd ed., p. 73, It is 



