BIRD NEWS 



trays for their feed. We feed them 

 hard boiled eggs, crumbled with 

 selected ground cereals, and they are 

 fed three times a day, besides we 

 scatter small seeds around under the 

 bushes for them to hunt for. 



We raise a good many and we lose 

 a good many. Some die because 

 they don't seem to want to live; some 

 eat and eat and still get thin and 

 die. Others, like robust, hearty chil- 

 dren, eat, run and sleep, grow fat 

 and are a comfort to themselves and 

 us. I must tell you of a pair that 

 have given us much amusement and 

 pleasure. So devoted were they to 

 each other, we dubbed them "David 

 and Johnathan." David is a little 

 red-legged silver pheasant, and Jon- 

 athan a golden pheasant. Their fos- 

 ter mother, one of the little buff 

 cochin bantams, after much cluck- 

 ing and days of sitting proudly, 

 brought them forth, together with 

 eight others of nearly as many vari« 

 eties. After a few days, however, 

 these two were noticed going off bj 

 themselves and even when the mothei' 

 called they paid no attention. David 

 took the lead and it was most amus- 

 ing to see him when he found some 

 dainty morsel, look around and wait 

 for Jonathan to come and share it. 

 The latter, as is the nature of their 

 kind, was the more delicate bird of 

 the two, and if the wind blew cold 

 he would peep-peep and creep up 

 to David who would "mother" him 

 to the best of his ability. They slept 

 at night in this position, close up 

 under a bush, and the strangest 

 part of all was that these two birds, 

 unmothered and uncared for, save 

 in a general way, grew faster and 

 were far livelier than the rest of the 

 hatch. They were the most indepen- 

 dent pair; often have I seen them 

 away down at the end of the run, a 

 hundred feet and more, scratching 



away and talking to themselves. 



The handsomest pheasant by far 

 that we have are the hybrids, jthe re- 

 sult of a cross between a Lady Am- 

 herst and a Golden. The plumage 

 and style of the bird is magnificent, 

 combining as they do all the best 

 parts of these exquisite birds. The 

 best part is that the young do not 

 date back to their early ancestors 

 but are like the parent birds, thus 

 proving that a new variety is estab- 

 lished. 



Our breeding pens are 10x12, all 

 communicating and all opening into 

 the first section of the pheasantry. 

 All the doors have spring hinges, 

 for experience has taught us it is 

 unsafe for two cocks to come to- 

 gether during the mating season. We 

 had a battle royal between an Eng- 

 lish ring-neck and a Versi-color, re- 

 sulting in the death of the latter, all 

 caused by the man in charge failing 

 to hook the door and a strong gust 

 of wind blowing it open. When the 

 mating season is over, everything is 

 thrown wide open and there is one 

 happy family of pheasants, ducks and 

 quail all togther. For the first few 

 days there is a little sparring, but 

 soon a truce is declared and peace 

 prevails. 



We are not in the business for rev- 

 enue, but because we love nature and 

 most of nature's children. I say 

 "most" for there are times when one 

 wonders why some things are made, 

 for example, when we watch and wait 

 for a setting of eggs to hatch, sure 

 to be the kind one wants most, and 

 then find the ants have been wait- 

 ing too, and have found the little 

 pipped hole, gone in and actually 

 eaten up the poor chicks alive. Or, 

 when you have watched a quail's 

 nest, counting the eggs each day until 

 you know by their number that the 

 hen will soon begin to set, and then 



