PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



obviously portrayed in the accompanying illustration, which, 

 through the kindness of Mr R. E. Horsfall, of Stody Lodge, 

 Melton Constable, the author has been enabled to reproduce. 

 This illustration was depicted in the field, but at the time 

 a certain amount of ambiguity was expressed concerning 

 the identity of the sex, though Mr Horsfall had not the 

 least doubt about it himself, and in order to support his 

 theory as to the bird being a hen, he has favoured me with 

 a copy of the taxidermist's letter, which runs as follows : — 



" On dissection the Pheasant was a female without doubt. 

 The ovary was in a degenerate condition, but the oviduct 

 was there, which leaves no room for doubt. 



"(Signed) N. H. Pashley." 



The production of barren hens may arise from two 

 causes : first, from disease of the ovary or oviduct ; secondly, 

 from senility, in other words, from old hens, which should 

 not be allowed to exist in the coverts, as their presence 

 materially diminishes the perpetuation of the species. The 

 assumption of the male plumage is not necessarily a per- 

 manent one, either in the Pheasant or in any other birds, 

 and this has been proved on several occasions, but in no 

 instance can one have a better proof than that afforded by 

 the Mallard, and the Rouen Drakes, which for three months 

 in the year undergo a periodical change of plumage, assuming 

 the feminine garb, which is the converse of the foregoing. 

 It is, in a relative sense, equally applicable. 



Hen Pheasants in male plumage have been known to 

 revert to their normal state of plumage, and the cock Pheasant 

 has likewise been found to take on the plumage of the hen, 

 as reported in the Ibis for 1897, page 438. Whether the 

 bird was sterile or not does not appear to have been proved, 



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