166 PHEASANTS 



of letting in the wind and so wrecking the 

 wood may with safety allow ; rides with 

 a northerly and southerly direction are 

 better kept as little more than foot-paths. 



Among forest trees, ash, sycamore, 

 ilex, beech, and oak yield a plentiful 

 harvest of seeds and fruit, while the slow- 

 decaying leaves of the two latter en- 

 courage abundance of insect life. Where 

 these hardwood trees have not reached 

 maturity, the same end may be attained 

 by planting the many fruit and berry- 

 bearing shrubs of which the pheasant is so 

 fond, and encouraging a plentiful growth 

 of willow to harbour insects. 



In years of plentiful woodland crops, 

 when pheasants are feeding largely on 

 acorns — of which they are inordinately 

 fond — they require more grit and water 

 to keep them in health than at any other 

 time, the one to ease the process of 

 digestion, the other to counteract the 

 effects of an unusually dry and heating food. 



With some approach to these con- 

 ditions in his surroundings and food 



