CHAPTER XXXI 



High Pheasants — How to Show on Flat or Difficult 

 Ground — Some Opinions of Gamekeepers 



Sportsmen frequently complain of the low flight of Pheasants, 

 and there is no doubt that Pheasant-shooting, unless ac- 

 companied by high-flying birds, becomes a very poor form 

 of sport, and in some instances even a dangerous one. Every 

 keeper likes to show high Pheasants, and on some estates the 

 natural surroundings are such that the birds are compelled to 

 adopt high flight, whereas on other estates there is nothing 

 but a good system of management to produce high-flying 

 birds. Another very important factor in the author's opinion 

 is to breed only from those birds which by instinct are not 

 only vigorous in their flight, but also good at "towering." 

 In every covert there is a certain class of birds which are 

 conveniently designated "Skulkers," and this remark is 

 particularly applicable to many birds that have been released 

 from the aviaries, and it is an open question whether it is 

 advisable to turn penned birds out again into covert. The 

 effects of domestication, frequent association with man, and 

 the acquirement of a barn-door fowl sort of existence is 

 inseparable from the acquirement of skulking habits. The 

 mere presence of such birds in a covert establishes a pre- 

 cedent for similar habits amongst other Pheasants. There- 

 fore the deductions to be derived from the foregoing remarks 

 are well worthy of every Pheasant- rearer's consideration. 

 It is in the practical exposition of high-flying birds that 

 the keeper is likely to receive his greatest reward. In the 



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