198 PHEASANTS 



been given but little attention in the past, 

 signs are not wanting that he may soon 

 receive some of the care and consideration 

 that have been so freely and profitably 

 lavished on the partridge of late years. 

 The demand for small, rough shoots is 

 steadily increasing, and on many estates, 

 where hand-reared birds have been en- 

 tirely relied on in the past, the economy 

 enforced by changes in the times is giving 

 more encouragement to wild birds, and 

 more scope for careful study of their 

 habits under less artificial conditions. 



Some few winters since the writer 

 took part in a pleasant covert shoot 

 within thirty miles of London. The 

 rises were good, with birds enough for 

 the most exacting. Surprised to learn 

 that no pheasants were ever reared there, 

 he wrote to ask his host for some in- 

 formation on the subject, and in return 

 Lord Verulam most kindly supplied him 

 with the following account of his wild 

 pheasants : — 



