THE REARED PHEASANT 255 



undue competition between them are 

 entertained, all the pheasants should be 

 shot in the shooting season, and the 

 reliable eggs that any of the approved 

 game-farms supply, be solely relied on for 

 the following year. 



For the partridges the adoption of 

 such a policy can only result in a marked 

 improvement in their conditions, for a 

 formidable competitor in the struggle for 

 existence is removed during those very 

 months when the shortage of food supply 

 makes the problem of ways and means 

 most acute ; the keepers have more time 

 on their hands to care for their welfare, 

 and later on, in the nesting season, they 

 may possess their hedgerows in peace, 

 without fear of the obtrusive pheasant. 



In the coverts the ground profits by 

 the half year's rest, and is clean and sweet 

 by the time the new tenants are ready to 

 enter on their occupancy. 



The sole deterrent would seem to be 

 the cost; to which it may at once be 

 replied that to produce more game than 



