56 THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



Family — Phasianid^. 



Common Pheasant {Phasianus colchicus). The 

 most numerous of our game birds, and a common 

 resident. Pied varieties often occur, and I have seen 

 several pure white birds in Windsor Forest. 



A hen Pheasant was shot, as Mr. WoUey told me, 

 from the top of a house in Eton by Mr. John Brad- 

 shaw, about the year 1837. The bird was sitting 

 quietly on a chimney when first observed, and re- 

 mained there for some time before it was killed. The 

 variety called the Bohemian Pheasant is sometimes 

 shot in Windsor Park. 



The chief food of the Pheasant is grain and various 

 seeds ; insects and leaves are also sought for, and 

 Selby says they eat with great avidity the root of the 

 bulbous crowfoot {Rammadiis bulbosus). Pheasants 

 are very fond of acorns also, with which their crops 

 are often distended in autumn. 



Family — Tetraonid^. 



Black Grouse {Tetrao tetrix). In 18 15, Mr. H. 

 M. Thornton, of Chobham, brought two black cocks 

 and three grey hens from Holland which were turned 

 out on Hurtwood Heath, between Dorking and Guild- 

 ford, in Surrey, and some of the descendants of these 

 birds strayed as far as Finchhampstead, in Berkshire. 



