236 PHEASANTS 



reared pheasants easily out-distanced the 

 others in growth. 



Once his pheasants are grown and 

 turned down in covert, the chief concern 

 of the gamekeeper is to keep them living 

 at home until the time of shooting. To 

 curb their natural straying propensities, a 

 host of much vaunted non-straying mix- 

 tures are advertised in the columns of 

 every sporting paper, their merits fortified 

 by testimonials from many gamekeepers ; 

 the writer can only say that in his own 

 experience he has never met a keeper of 

 any standing who would have a single 

 word to say for such doubtful expedients. 

 The good keeper never thinks of drugging 

 his charges with curious condiments, but 

 relies on his own knowledge of his 

 birds and their ways to keep them from 

 straying. 



Occasionally on small estates where a 

 heavy head of pheasants has been reared, 

 or in places where the park lies in the 

 centre of an industrial district, special 

 measures have to be taken to keep the 



