PHEASANT 145 



As to " fowl enteritis," a fatal epidemic disease attack- 

 ing Pheasants, see the remarks of Dr. Klein in his 

 valuable work, " Grouse Disease and Fowl Enter- 

 itis," 1892, published by Messrs. Macmillan. 



Instances of Pheasants being poisoned by eating 

 yew leaves are occasionally reported [Field, Nov. 

 25 ; Dec. 2 and 23, 1876 ; Dec. 20, 1890 ; Sept. 17, 

 1892; Nov. 11, 1893; and Zool, 1893, p. 146). 

 In some cases the birds were killed by eating the 

 common yew, in others by the Irish variety. The 

 poisonous alkaloid known as taxine exists in a 

 larger quantity in the leaves of the male than in 

 those of the female plant ; but the red mucilage 

 surrounding the ripe seed is innocuous, and many 

 birds are fond of it. See an article on yew 

 poisoning, Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc, vol. iii. p. 698, 

 715 (1892); Nature, 1893, p. 285, and Dr. Lowe's 

 recent work on yew trees (1897). 



As to poisoning with bracken, see Field, Aug. 

 13, 1892, and Agric. Gazette, April 1894. 



"Lead-poisoning," resulting in paralysis, from 

 swallowing grains of shot picked up in the coverts 

 is another cause of mortality amongst Pheasants 

 (Field, Feb. 19 and Mar. 4, 1876; Feb. 27, 1897; 

 May 20, 1899; and Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1899, 

 p. 112). "Wool-gathering" is a further source of dan- 

 ger to young pheasants, the result of setting coops 

 in a field where sheep have grazed. The young 

 birds pick up shreds of wool which choke the giz- 

 zard, and thus prevent the passage of food. 



The normal weight of an adult cock Pheasant 



