THE WILD PHEASANT 199 



GORHASIBURY, St. AlBANS, 



November 4, 1912. 



I will first answer your queries seriatim, and 

 then add a word or two about our wild pheasants 

 which seem to be of interest, and which you can 

 use or not as you think advisable : — 



1. Acreage of woodland. — 



(a) Shot in one day — a wood nearly 200 acres. 



/i\ Qu 4. i. x.\. ' A /I wood about 60 acres. 



{b) Shot together in one day (^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ 



, V ,. /6 small coverts, the 



^^^ tlitto I largest about 18 acres. 



^jx ,. /9 small coverts, the 



W clitto I largest about 8 acres. 



Also a few small springs, but not enough for a 

 regular day's shooting. The whole would amount 

 say to 450 acres wood. The acreage of that part 

 of the estate the shooting over which we reserve 

 is about 5800 acres. 



2. Average yield of wild pheasants. — From 

 1400 to (last year) nearly 2000. 



3. How FAR TOTAL VARIES WITH SEASONS. 



Not much : the usual bag is from 14 to 15 

 hundred pheasants per season. 



4. How MUCH PHEASANTS HAVE TO BE FED. 



Not at all between April and October, after which 

 maize is thrown down in the woods in proportion 

 as they require it. (In 1910 total maize during 

 year, 27 quarters; also 8 loads of barley in the 

 straw.) 



5. Influence of neighbouring rearing-fields 

 IN ^MAINTAINING NUMBERS. — There are three small 



