PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



cart for the purpose. When the coop has a bottom to it 

 there is no necessity for the adoption of this plan, but the 

 author thinks most keepers will agree with him when he 

 says that the best form of coop is that without any wooden 

 bottom, the latter being a most insanitary addition. 



Release the birds one by one early on the following 

 morning, and feed them around the coops, in order to keep 

 them with their foster-mother for the time being. 



The best covert to place young birds in is one with 

 little or no undergrowth, otherwise they are apt to roost 

 on the ground. To induce the birds to enter the wood, 

 arrange all the coops so that their fronts look into it. 



A young covert, say one about fifteen years old, should be 

 selected whenever possible, so that the young birds have suf- 

 ficient power of flight to go to roost in them. Some game- 

 keepers teach the young birds to roost by lifting the hen on to 

 the lower boughs, and the example thus set is an incentive 

 for the others to follow suit. Once the habit of roosting is 

 acquired, the keeper's anxiety is materially lightened as to the 

 future welfare of his charge, though unfortunately fresh 

 anxieties arise — in fact, his life is one series of anxieties from 

 the time the eggs are set until the birds have bitten the dust at 

 the hands of the sportsman. In feeding the birds, particular 

 care must be exercised to provide them with such food as 

 will be most conducive towards strengthening their growth. 



Once the birds have settled down to their new conditions 

 and have been persuaded to roost in the proper manner, 

 there ought to be little difficulty experienced in their 

 subsequent management. 



Rearers are often heard to remark that young Pheasants 

 should be retained on the rearing-field as long as possible for 

 their health's sake, but every gamekeeper cannot do as he 

 likes in this particular ; for instance, if the field is hired, there 



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