FEEDING ADULT BIRDS IN COVERT 



the rambling fit takes them, and being quite ignorant of 

 the geography of the neighbourhood, beyond a few yards 

 around where their coops are placed, they go rambling 

 on, and if not checked, eventually lose themselves. This 

 is why it is so important that driving-in should be resorted 

 to as soon as they begin to stray even a short distance 

 from the covert. Each day they will go further out, but 

 by constantly being driven back will gain a knowledge of 

 the locality, and get their line of flight for home. It is 

 not perhaps a good plan to allow the birds no law beyond 

 the covert fence, especially if there is plenty of space 

 between the covert and the boundary of the manor, for 

 it must be remembered to make home surroundings com- 

 fortable, the birds must be allowed some open space. The 

 need of this is most felt probably after a wet night, and 

 when the covert is too dense to admit sufficient air to 

 dry the birds within. Open space, too, is appreciated as 

 a means of escape from the drip of the wet trees. Where 

 space will allow, it is a good plan to grant so much law 

 outside the covert, and never drive in beyond it, say limit 

 to one field or about 300 yards. If this can be done 

 birds will give less trouble, but no hard and fast rule can 

 be laid down, as so much depends upon the situation of 

 the shoot. Perhaps one of the greatest inducements to 

 keep Pheasants at home is to leave small plots of corn 

 standing adjoining the coverts. When this can be done 

 not only will it act as a natural feeding ground, but will 

 provide amusement for the birds, and will help to pass 

 time which otherwise might be spent in straying over the 

 boundary. Presuming that Pheasants have reached the 

 straying age, it is most essential that attention should be 

 paid to the feeding, not perhaps so much as to what the 

 food consists of but as to how and when it is given ; for 



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