THE PHEASANT FAMILY 23 



Though less familiar to game-preservers 

 than the much-advertised Mongolian, the 

 Prince of Wales pheasant has certain 

 qualities, grounded in solid fact, which 

 should go far to recommend him to game- 

 preservers in this country. Of him alone 

 would it be reasonable to say that in some 

 particulars he is better adapted for the 

 purposes of sport and the trials of our 

 island climate than the bird in possession. 

 Such a statement unsubstantiated has 

 no value ; there has already been too 

 much written at large about non-straying, 

 prolific high-fliers, of singular excellence 

 on the table, and so forth. The Prince of 

 Wales is then indubitably the wildest of 

 the pheasants in preservation : the writer 

 can vouch for this quality — and surely it 

 is one befitting a bird of sport — from 

 personal observation. The old cock, con- 

 fined for seven years in an aviary, resents 

 the approach of man as strongly as though 

 he were fresh caught from the wild : and 

 on many rearing-fields the shyness of the 

 young birds is evident ; so inherent is 



